Of, By and For the People…Not the Parties.

The idea of opening the debates to include voices beyond that of
the two major parties seems to have the power to unite people
from either end of the broad spectrum of American viewpoints…

"The Commission on Presidential Debates is a corrupt
stranglehold on our democracy." ---Phil Donahue

Many people would likely expect to hear such a quote from
someone described as "having gone off the deep end of the
left-wing", but how many would expect a person so often
described as a "right-wing extremist" to agree…

"I'm for more open debates. I think we have nothing to fear
by allowing people to be seen and to argue and to talk with
each other and I think the very concept of an elite commission
deciding for the American people who deserves to be heard
is profoundly wrong." ---Newt Gingrich

And who would expect an actual participant from either camp
to confess such complicity…

"I'm trying to forget the whole damn experience of those debates.
'Cause I think it's too much show business and too much
prompting, too much artificiality, and not really debates. They're
rehearsed appearances." ---Former President George HW Bush

The following petition is being circulated by Open Debates,
a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization
working to ensure the public's interests:

We, the undersigned, support Open Debates' campaign to reform the presidential debate process. We believe that the presidential debates should serve the American people first, not political parties. We support replacing the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates with the nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission, so that inspiring formats can be employed, pressing national issues can be addressed, and popular independent and third party candidates can be included.

Please visit this link to add your name and to see the
growing list of your fellow citizens in support of debate reform.
http://opendebates.com/yourrole/petition/index.php

Whether you choose to sign or not, please check out
http://opendebates.com/ for yourself to find a wealth of reliable
resources on the topic, including this well-documented overview:
The Commission on Presidential Debates is a Tool of the
Major Parties - It's Time for a Citizens' Debate Commission
http://opendebates.com/theissue/