Jesse Ventura and George Farah write
The debate debacle in today's Globe, and explain whay the Presidential Debates are screwed up:
The American people never knew why a candidate they wanted to see was excluded, why the moderator did not challenge the candidates' misleading statements with follow-up questions, or why the debates were held on the same night as the World Series. Dole and Clinton were able to conceal their manipulation of the debates because of the complicity of the Commission on Presidential Debates.
There's hope:
This year, a coalition of 60 civic groups formed a genuinely nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission to host transparent and informative presidential debates.
Those debates would feature engaging and innovative formats, include the candidates that a majority of eligible voters want to see, and address a variety of pressing national issues. Now, President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry must decide whether to courageously participate in real presidential debates that maximize voter education or to manipulate the debates and hide behind an unsuitable commission.
Read more here:
Open Debates.
