As published in the Daily News February 18, 2000

Public Forum

Presidential Debates

The commission on Presidential Debates issued an advisory on January 6, in which it used the term "nonpartisan seven times to describe itself and it's selection criteria. The Commission is a fraud and an affront to free and democratic elections.

CPD co-chairmen Paul G. Kirk, Jr. and rank J. Fahrenkoph, Jr. declared that "The approach we announce today is both clear and predictable." It is indeed. Their "objective criteria" clearly and predictably exclude all third party candidates by requiring that a presidential candidate must have a level of support of at least 15%, as determined by five selected national public opinion polling organization, in order to be invited to the debates.

The CPD has conspired to maintain the Democrat/Republican political power monopoly (duopoly, if one is inclined to see a meaningful difference between them). For the sake of free and open election, the CPD must be disbanded.

Ernst Ghermann
Winnetka