Save 'genuine' presidential debates

The major party candidates are rarely blamed for their covert debate manipulations because the CPD conceals the agreements from the public and conveniently assumes responsibility for the debates. If the major party candidates transparently hosted their own debates in their own living rooms, at least they would be held accountable for them. And under the ensuing public scrutiny, the candidates would be less likely to select compliant moderators, to exclude popular third-party challengers, to prohibit candidate-to-candidate dialogue, and to avoid discussing difficult issues.

Open Debates, a new nonprofit organization, is engaged in a broad national campaign to reform the debate process. In addition to aggressively exposing the antidemocratic practices of the CPD, Open Debates has helped form a genuinely nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission to sponsor future presidential debates that address pressing national issues, feature innovative formats, and include the candidates that Americans want to see.

Aspiring to reverse the decline in debate viewership, this new commission consists of 17 national civic leaders from across the political spectrum - including such diverse leadership as Jehmu Green of Rock the Vote; Heritage Foundation cofounder Paul Weyrich; former independent presidential candidate John B. Anderson; Chellie Pingree of Common Cause; former US ambassador to the United Nations Alan Keyes; and Norman Dean of Friends of the Earth. All told, representatives of more than 60 diverse civic organizations serve on the advisory board.

The battle for control of the presidential debates has officially begun: Will there be real and transparent presidential debates that maximize voter education, or stilted and deceptive bipartisan news conferences that maximize major-party control?

The candidate-controlled debate commission has scheduled three presidential debates - the first to be held Sept. 30 at the University of Miami - and one vice presidential debate. Our new, genuinely nonpartisan debate commission has scheduled its own meetings between the candidates - five presidential and one vice-presidential. The first is set for Sept. 22 at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.

Now, the question is whether President Bush and Sen. John Kerry will take up our invitation to a real debate. The Republican and Democratic nominees will participate in the debates proposed by the new Citizens' Debate Commission only if the political benefit outweighs the political cost. And that calculus will only be achieved if enough voters demand democratic debates from the candidates.

• George Farah is founder and executive director of the civic group Open Debates, the author of 'No Debate: How the Republican and Democratic Parties Secretly Control the Presidential Debates,' and a member of the Citizens' Debate Commission.

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