Third Party Presidential Debate to Take Place on Thursday, October 23rd

Free and Equal Elections
Attn: Politics Editors, Campaign 2008 Editors, National Editors
Contact: Christina Tobin, 312-320-4101

This morning, Christina Tobin, Director of Free and Equal, announced an Independent/Third Party Presidential Debate, which will take place on Thursday evening at 9:00pm EST on October 23 in Washington DC at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel.

All six candidates who qualified for enough state ballot lines to be eligible to win the presidency on November 4th have been invited.

To date, two candidates have confirmed participation: Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader, and Constitution Party Presidential Candidate Chuck Baldwin, who have been endorsed by Congressman Ron Paul.

The debate will last for 90 minutes, and follow the below format:
-No opening statements
-There will be six of the following question and answer series: The moderator will pose a question. Each candidate will be permitted 90 seconds to respond. The candidates' preliminary answers will be followed by a 5-minute "discussion" period, during which the moderator will be permitted unlimited follow-up questions and the candidates would be encouraged to engage one another in actual debate. This will last about 60 minutes.
-After the above six question-and-answer series, each candidate will be permitted to ask a single question of one or more of the other candidates, with each candidate permitted 90 seconds to respond. This will last about 10 minutes.
-After this, submitted questions from the audience will be selected and presented by the moderator. This will last for about 10 minutes.
-Each candidate will be permitted a 2-minute closing statement.