From TheBestLinks.com
The Citizens' Debate Commission (CDC) is a nonpartisan organization, formed in 2004, that was established to sponsor future general election presidential debates.
The CDC consists of national civic leaders from the left, center and right of the political spectrum and has an advisory board comprised of over fifty civic organizations that it claims broadly reflects the composition and concerns of the electorate.
The CDC states that it was formed because the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) fails to adequately serve voters' interests and charges that the CPD, which was created by the Republican and Democratic parties, secretly awards control of the presidential debates to the Republican and Democratic candidates, thereby limiting voter choice and restricting subject matters of political discourse.
The CDC claims to aim to host presidential debates that serve American voters, not political parties, first. The CDC promises to set fair candidate selection criteria, feature innovative and engaging formats, and resist anti-democratic demands of participating candidates. The CDC also promises to operate with full transparency and reverse the decline in debate viewership (Under the tenure of the CPD, debate viewership has dropped by over 25 million viewers.)
Members
The following seventeen civic leaders serve on the CDC:
- John B. Anderson, former U.S. Congressman and Chair of the Center for Voting and Democracy;
- Angela Bay Buchanan, president of The American Cause;
- Veronica de la Garza, executive director of the Youth Vote Coalition;
- Norman Dean, director of Friends of the Earth;
- George Farah, director of Open Debates and author of "No Debate";
- Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch;
- Tom Gerety, director, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law;
- Jehmu Greene, director of Rock the Vote;
- Alan Keyes, U.S. Ambassador;
- Jeff Milchen, director of ReclaimDemocracy.org;
- Larry Noble, former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission;
- Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council;
- Chellie Pingree, president and CEO of Common Cause;
- Randall Robinson, founder of TransAfrica Forum;
- Dan Stein, director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform;
- Mark Weisbrot, co-director of Center for Economic and Policy Research;
- Paul Weyrich, chair and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation
Advisory Board
The following civic organizations serve on the Advisory Board of the Citizens' Debate Commission:
- 20/20 Vision
- Accuracy In Media
- Alliance for Better Campaigns
- The American Cause
- Appleseed Electoral Reform Project
- Ballot Access News
- Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
- Center for Food Safety
- Center for Reclaiming America
- Center for Rural Strategies
- Center for Voting and Democracy
- Citizens for Participation in Political Action
- Citizen Works
- Common Cause
- Commonwealth Coalition
- Conservative Caucus
- Declaration Foundation
- Democracy Matters
- Democracy South
- Democracy Unplugged
- Demos
- Earth Island Institute
- Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
- Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting
- Fannie Lou Hamer Project
- Federation for American Immigration Reform
- Free Congress Foundation
- Free Press
- Friends of the Earth
- Fund for Constitutional Government
- Global Exchange
- GRACE Public Fund
- Grassroots Unity
- Greenpeace
- Independent Progressive Politics Network
- Infact
- Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
- Judicial Watch
- League of Rural Voters
- MassVOTE
- Midwest Democracy Center
- National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling
- National Coalition for the Homeless
- National Priorities Project
- National Voting Rights Institute
- The National Youth & Student Peace Coalition
- National Youth Advocacy Coalition
- Native Forest Council
- New Road Map Foundation
- Ohio Citizen Action
- Public Campaign
- Rainforest Action Network
- Reclaim Democracy
- RenewAmerica
- Santa Monica Ranked Voting
- Student Environmental Action Coalition
- Texans for Public Justice
- Tikkun
- US English
- The Voting Rights Project of the Institute for Southern Studies
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