Cynthia will participate in 3rd Party WEB debate Sunday 10/19/08

(*Unpdate: It is now an interview with Cynthia McKinney.) (Also, added a radio appearance, tonight, Sunday, Oct. 19th on KISS-FM in NYC.) Press release direct from Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney that web debate is on. Also, an e-mail from the organization who had been planning a possible event at Columbia that says their in-person debate is off. (See bottom of this post.)

Green nominee Cynthia McKinney to speak in online presidential candidates’ forum, Sunday, Oct. 19 from 7pm to 9pm

• Web site for the broadcast: http://www.breakthematrix.com/channels/1

Green Party presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney will participate in a webcast forum for presidential candidates on Sunday, October 19, to be aired 7 to 9 pm on BreakTheMatrix.com (http://www.breakthematrix.com/channels/1).

Cynthia McKinney will join other candidates who’ve been invited to the online forum, which has been organized by ThirdPartyTicket.com’s Trevor Lyman (http://www.thirdpartyticket.com).

Ms. McKinney will not appear at a candidates’ forum at Columbia University on the evening of October 19.  The news of Ms. McKinney’s participation in the Columbia event was released to the media in error by persons who are unassociated with the McKinney campaign, and who had not confirmed such an appearance with Ms. McKinney or her staff.

“We invite everyone to go online, tune in to BreakTheMatrix.com, and listen to Cynthia McKinney and the other candidates debate real issues.  We’ll hear Ms. McKinney offer ideas that have been censored from the McCain-Obama debates — ideas that most Americans support, like bringing our troops home now, health care for everyone, and help for working Americans facing financial difficulty instead of a $700 billion bailout package for Wall Street,” said John Judge, media secretary for the McKinney/Clemente Power to the People Committee.

Cynthia McKinney and running mate Rosa Clemente were nominated by the Green Party at the Green National Convention in Chicago this past July.

“A vote for Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente is an investment in a growing progressive antiwar party that accepts no corporate contributions.  No other candidate in the 2008 election offers the hope of a permanent alternative to the Democrats and Republicans and the corporate interests that the two established parties serve.  The Green Party isn’t an alternative, it’s an imperative,” said Ms. Clemente.

Greens and other Americans have objected to the format of the McCain-Obama debates, which were sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), and which excluded all candidates except the Democratic and Republican nominee.

The CPD, which sets rules for candidate participation, is owned and run by the Democratic and Republican parties, which have an interest in excluding all candidates except their own. Greens noted that the CPD is funded through contributions from corporations, which have their own interests in limiting the candidates who participate in the debates.

MORE INFORMATION

“Where’s Kenny Rogers When You Need Him? The Big Boys Got Their Bailout, But the Elected Leadership and the Voters Meet at the Election Day Showdown”
By Cynthia McKinney, OpEdNews.com, Oct. 7, 2008
http://www.opednews.com/articles/-Where-s-Kenny-Rogers-When-by-Cynthia-McKinney-081007-748.html

E-mail from Nick Shea, General Manager
Columbia Political Union

Dear all,

It is with great regret that we must inform you that the Presidential
debate scheduled for this Sunday evening, hosted by the Columbia
Political Union (CPU), will not be taking place.

Unfortunately, the nature of planning large-scale events with multiple
participants, who at times have competing interests, is that nothing
is ever set in stone until the very last moment.  Such was the case
with this event.   Due to circumstances beyond our control, several of
the candidates decided not to participate in the debate at the last
minute.  Though the CPU Executive Board worked tirelessly over the
last 48 hours to make this event happen as planned, at 5 PM today we
were finally forced to conclude it was no longer possible for us to
host this event.

Despite the fact that this event will not occur, we believe it is a
great testament to Columbia students’ interest in political discourse,
their sense of civic responsibility, and their receptiveness to new
ideas that all 275 tickets reserved for students were sold out within
a day of being made available for an event on a Sunday evening before
midterm exams.

The CPU Executive Board is committed to elevating political discourse
on Columbia’s campus.  We work to provide members of the Columbia
community with opportunities to engage with political ideas across a
wide ideological spectrum and on a range of issues.  It was with these
objectives in mind that we hoped to host this debate.  Our only
interest was to give all candidates –either inside or outside the
political mainstream– the opportunity to speak directly to students
and the nation about the issues they deem critical for this country.
No one is more disappointed than us that this event will not be taking
place.

Though we are disappointed, we have many great events planned for this
year, and we will continue to pursue opportunities like this one in
the future.   On Friday, October 24, at 2:45pm, the CPU will be
hosting Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) in Lerner Cinema.  We encourage
everyone to attend this event.

Thank you for your interest in this event, and for your patience with
us over the past few days.  We hope to see you at our future events.

All the best,
Nick

——————————–
Nick Shea

General Manager
Columbia Political Union
-

This story from Democracy Now was reposted at Cynthia McKinney’s campaign web-site, with the part confirming her appearance at the debate placed in bold. Looks like the debate is on…

Breaking the Sound Barrier: Third-Party Candidates Ralph Nader & Cynthia McKinney Respond to Final McCain-Obama Debate
Thursday, 16 October 2008 20:19
Democracy Now, October 16, 2008

For livestream version or audio: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/16/stream

Senators Barack Obama and John McCain met last night for the final debate before the November 4th presidential election, sparring over the economy, tax policy, negative campaigning, trade agreements, abortion and the educational system. As with the other debates, third-party candidates were not invited to participate. We break the sound barrier and hear from Green Party presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney and independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader…

CYNTHIA McKINNEY: Thank you very much. First of all, let me thank you for inviting me to be with you, and also I’d like to thank Trevor Lyman of thirdpartyticket.com, who has also organized any event, a debate, a third-party debate on October 19th from 7:00 to 9:00, and I will be participating.

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