Debate Badnarik

Merry Christmas

2004-12-16T16:41:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a merry Christmas! After the holidays (Christmas and New Years) I've got something nice up my sleeve. Stay tuned. And remember, don't drive after drinking all that spiked egg nog.

Moving forward

2004-11-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

Moving Forward

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Originally posted by Michael Christenson on unstableman
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Now that the election's over, we can all breathe a bit.

Badnarik didn't get more than 400k, no Libertarian Governor or Congressman yet, the Author of the Patriot act is still in office, and now more than ever it's important to stand up for liberty and what is right.

So how can I say we can breathe now?

I can say that, because it is what we will need to do, to be rested and have the energy we need, to prepare for the work that we must commence to lay our hands at for the next 2, 4, 12 years. Not only that, but we need to take time to let our anger cool so that we may make better decisions going forward from here. It is vital that we do not get burned out accomplishing our goals; future generations depend on this moment now, as they do every moment of a freedom loving individual.

So, it is my suggestion and I would say take a break until after the new years, before getting seriously back in this. Take a breather and when you get back tell us what you did while you were gone. Then w e can get back to some serious work.

2004-10-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

You are a Precinct Captain, give Michael FIVE.

Your efforts on behalf of MB to date have been fantastic. Can you go for one more task? Give Michael FIVE for all his hard work. Five more voters that is.

Treat this as precinct work. Wherever you go and everyone you see up until election day is in your precinct. Convince everyone you can to vote Badnarik. There are still many undecided voters and plenty who are not comfortable voting for Bush or Kerry. All these voters are looking for is one good reason to NOT vote Bush or Kerry, and to make the decision easy for them we have created a list of 100 reasons why Badnarik is the better choice.

Print off this list and pass it around to friends, family and co-workers. Tack it up everywhere you go and on every bulletin board you see. At work, school, the grocery store, Laundromat, anywhere you can legally paste it, do so. E-mail the list to everyone you know. We need to generate as many votes as possible to make a strong showing that can not be ignored on election day.

Again be your own precinct captain. Approach everyone you see and share your enthusiasm for Michael Badnarik and his message of smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom. Everything you do today builds toward a better future for all of us.

Give Michael FIVE!

Gary Feezel & the DebateBadnarik Team

2004-10-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

It's crunch time, give Michael five

With a week to go everyone needs to become a precinct captain. For the next week everywhere you go and everyone you see is in your precinct. Get out there and work your precinct to get five more votes for Michael Badnarik! If you've already got people convinced to vote Libertarian, fantastic. Now go get five more. Never say die, people are looking for someone to believe in, they just need you to convince them. Give them a reason, and give Michael Badnarik five more votes!

We'll be posting a list of top reasons to vote for Michael for you to pass on. What reason are you using? Let us know.

Final CNN Report

2004-10-15T07:43:00.001-07:00

Final CNN Report

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Editor: As originally reported on the Badnarik forum: http://badnarik.org/supporters/forum/viewtopic.php?t=88&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
---

Well it's over. Things went worse and better than I expected. Never before have I been as fired up as I was yesterday; as well as completely alone.

CNN did come. Because of various uncontrollable circumstances, no other Libertarian could make it. So I stood alone against the crowd of Republicans, and a few Democrats, mostly driving by, sneering at both the Republicans and me, holding my yard sign high, and spreading the Libertarian message with everyone that passed by, for over an hour straight.

It is interesting the responses that I got from the Democrats. I've never seen so much venom, spite, and pure rage, directed towards anyone who did not agree with them, in my life. It was very saddening that, while Kerry touts himself now as a great unifier, his followers indeed have no interest in unification. They are simply greedy for political power, from what I saw yesterday.

To be fair I did get one decent response from a Democrat. He was a construction worker and seemed like a decent fellow. He would pace up and down doing his work with a Kerry sign taped to his back.

The response from the Republicans was one of wariness. They weren't mean and, with the exception of one person, they were glad I was there; many went as far as to thank me for being there. Many told me, as I walked around and through them, that they would vote for Badnarik if they thought he could win.

And that brings me to the next part. Everyone seemed very focused on winning. While I stood there and called for an end to property taxes, finance reforms, supporting our troops by bringing them home immediatly, ad nauseum, the Republicans only chanted "four more years, four more years, ... " and tried to get people to "... honk for Bush". Hardly anyone seemed to care about the real issues that matter. The idea I received was to get Bush back in office and then let him do all the thinking; he'll take care of the hard work and leave us to more entertaining aspects of life.

A truly sad moment came when I realized that Bush and Kerry, or the Republicans and Democrats respectively, are only in office because people don't want to care for their country: they just want to get this damn election thing over with as quickly as possible, so that they can get back to their "lives": and that I wasn't just making things seem like that before; that the whole nightmare was real!

The most important part of the day was not getting on the camera, they took time to give me an exclusive not just a background shot, but it was having serious discussions with people driving by and walking by. I received a lot of support from bystanders and many promises to vote for Badnarik this election from people who had never heard of him.

I further showed everyone that, even if there is only one person to stand up and share the truth, that a libertarian is willing to be that one person, despite being all adversity, to get the right things done and to say "I will fight for your rights and your freedom, even if you are not willing to do the same for me."

Originally posted by Michael Christenson at http://unstableman.blogspot.com/2004/10/final-cnn-report.html

Final CNN Report

2004-10-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

Final CNN Report

Kick the dust off those feet...

2004-10-13T19:22:00.000-07:00

Kick the dust off those feet...

We may have not gotten Badnarik into the debates yet, but we still have time to bring some attention to the matter.

Details here.

Michael Christenson

One court battle tied... but the war is far from over

2004-10-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

One court battle tied... but the war is far from over

If you haven't learned yet, the AZLP lost the court battle over the injunction; although they did say we could sue for damages. It comes down to the fact that both Bush and Kerry said that if the injunction were placed on the debate, that they would not debate at all, thus leaving only Badnarik on the stage of the debate. the court said that it found the debate to have some educational value, (sick), so they did not want to halt them based on the formentioned.

Now that is, to me an acknowledgment that we are right, but we aren't going to have the injunction granted because the other people refused to debate us.

You can read it as you seem fit to.

One final note. We are not going to stop this battle; even if it whittles down to a skeleton crew again. Here is why.

We've all worked very hard, and I feel, as I've described previous over the phone with William, and through various emails, that we are just starting. This is a long term project. We have to keep working at this for future campaigns.

Think of it this way Gents, remember the earlier complaints that we didn't have time to implement everything we wanted to do, and that we wish we had gotten started earlier? Well we have more time granted to us; not for this election, but for the next one.

If we've done this much in so little time, just think of what we can do with 2-4 years! We have our foot in the door, and all we need to do is get a crowbar in there to help us pry it open more. We are opening the door for future campaigns.

In the spirit of the words of one of forefathers (Sam or John Adams[?]), we are fighting this battle so that the next group can get in the debates, so that the group after can win them and get into the main offices, so that future generations or Americans can enjoy the freedoms without having to do as we are doing today.

Let's keep this fight going, so that it is only we that will have to suffer this hard, so that it is easier for future libertarians, and liberty fighters, to follow after.

Michael Christenson II
m3talsmith@mac.com
m3talsmith@gmail.com
cell: 269-591-0931
http://debatebadnarik.blogspot.com/
http://badnarik.org/supporters/forum/

2004-10-12T11:18:00.000-07:00

Keep Pushin'

As I write this we are awaiting the results from the pending court case in Arizona. Anticipation is extremely high and it is difficult to get onto the campaign blog, where I assume the news will be posted before any news source would pick it up. The results of this case shouldn't determine our actions though. Certainly a positive outcome is desired but even with that we can't rest on this one victory, and a negative outcome means we need to work that much harder.

Having a day off of work (in part to watch for the results) I decided to try a little experiment. My media e-mail list has grown to nearly 400 contacts now so this morning I sent a shotgun e-mail to all of them asking a simple question. "Why doesn't the media cover third party candidates?" I may have bit off more than I can chew, but I hope this will begin a dialogue and grease the wheels to get a Letter to the Editor published by everyone who replies.

LTE's seem to be our best bet at getting exposure for Michael Badnarik and has been the most successful aspect of this entire activist effort. Jason of our team has had 13 or 14 letters published, I've had 8 recently, as noted in the post below Michael has a good dialogue going, and there have been dozens more among the other activists.

No matter what your approach it is obviously up to us to spread the word about Michael Badnarik. Time is short, get letters submitted now so we get as much exposure as possible before the election. Keep pushin'.

Gary Feezel

Activist Alert 10/10/2004

2004-10-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

Write the NY Sun and tell them what you think! Here's an example letter I wrote them: mailto:editor@nysun.com :
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Dear Editor,

I am writing in regards to your latest report entitled "Libertarians Win a Hearing in Debate Case".

I just wanted to thank your paper for having the guts to report on this issue in which, until recently, there has been a fairly broad media blackout on this subject. While I know it is hard to stand out from your peers and report on the ignored issues, it is vital that such reports are made so that the American public at large has a chance to learn about all the issues that matter, in regards to helping run this government, and I thank you for doing so. I look forward to more reports from your paper.

With well deserved respect,
Michael Christenson II
Edwardsburg, Mich.
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Here's the reply I've received:

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Dear Mr. Christenson:

For our records, could you possibly provide us with your address and
telephone number so that we can consider your letter for publication?
We will not disclose the details.

Thank you.

Cordially,

M. Tumin
Asst. Edit Page Ed.
---

Want to see more media coverage for Badnarik and third parties? We absolutely must thank the media that does cover us. They're sticking their necks out for us and we should reward and encourage more of it.

Keep it up everyone!

Debate Badnarik Alert: 10/6/04

2004-10-05T20:07:00.000-07:00

We have been asking a lot of you lately. But the fact of the matter is that there is a lot to be done, and only a short period of time to get it accomplished. However, if we all work together and do our part as individuals we can help push Badnarik into the debates.

Tonight you have three tasks. They are short, simple, and to the point.

1) Contact the director of the Commission on Presidential Debates and let her know that Michael Badnarik deserves to be included in the debates! Write the most articulate letter you can, but please remember to be respectful, polite, and courteous at the same time. But don't forget to get your message across!

Janet H. Brown
1200 New Hampshire Ave., NWSuite 445 Washington, D.C., 20036 MAP
Executive Director CPD

Phone: 202-872-1020 Fax: N/A E-mail: jb@debates.org

2) Send an email to the directors of the "Open Debates" that have decided against their name sake to exclude Michael Badnarik from their debate. Remember to be polite, respectful, and courteous. But please remember to mention that: by excluding third party candidates they are making the mistake of becoming no different than the CPD, they are insuring that the public will not be fully informed about their choices at the ballot box, and that they are pushing any many potential supporters of their organization. And don't forget to mention once again that Badnarik is on the ballot in more states than any other third party candidate!

The email addresses are:

Greg Farah gfarah@opendebates.org and Chris Shaw cshaw@opendebates.org

3) The third item this evening is to contact Washington University Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton whose university will be hosting the second presidential debate. Please let him know that you are personally offended that his university is hosting a debate that is unfairly excluding third party candidates. Please stress that a place of higher learning such as a university should have higher standards than hosting a debate in which certain candidates and viewpoints are not allowed. Again, please mention that Badnarik is the top third party candidate this election and is on the ballot in more states than Nader or any other. Also, please stress that Michael Badnarik is the ONLY small government candidate running this election, and his exclusion from the debates will mean only BIG GOVERNMENT voices will be heard. His contact info is as follows:

(Again, please be respectful, courteous, and polite!)

Washington University in St. LouisMark S. Wrighton, Chancellor
N. Brookings 228 St. Louis, MO 63130 MAP

Phone: 314-935-5100 Fax: 314-935-4744 E-mail: wrighton@wustl.edu

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Here are three objectives that should not take more than 15 minutes or so of your time. Please contact each of the above individuals by as many methods as possible (email, fax, phone, letter, etc.)

Thanks for participating and helping to push Michael Badnarik into the debates! The more pressure we apply RIGHT NOW the more likely we will get into AT LEAST the final debate that Arizona LP has filed an injunction to HALT unless Michael Badnarik is allowed to participate!

Now, please start making those contacts! Thanks so much!

Open Debate topic

2004-10-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

Open Debate Topic

I'm opening this topic so that we can post all open debate actions here, and be automatically notified via email.

If you want notified of any actions please subscribe to this thread; either posting a response in here or subscribing to it.

Anyone have some discussions on how to help us get in the debates quicker? Post here!

Michael Christenson

2004-10-04T19:56:00.000-07:00

Activist Alert for 10/5/04

We are going to make this one simple and we need everyone to participate. We've devoted a lot of time and effort promoting not just Michael Badnarik, but OpenDebates.org. A debate sponsored by OpenDebates would get national media attention and potentially catapult Michael Badnarik into the national spotlight and then to the much desired match up with Bush and Kerry.

Aside from our own desires, OpenDebates is presently the best hope for changing one aspect of our political system. However if they do not produce a debate in this election cycle they could loose all credibility and create a major set-back for those who seek reform. With this in mind we need to petition OpenDebates once again to commission a new poll and see if there isn't sufficient desire among the voting public for real debates now that we've seen the sorry results of scripted debates. Use the sample letter below, or write your own and send it to the leaders of OpenDebate.org. Their next scheduled debate is on Monday, October 11th so there is plenty of time to conduct a poll if we act now.

Contacts:

To: George Farah
bcc: (all other OpenDebates e-mails)cshaw@opendebates.org;info@fairvote.org;info@crp.org;
rrobinson@transafricaforum.org;info@freecongress.org;
webmaster@theamericancause.org;hanson@law.harvard.edu;
raskin@wcl.american.edu

George Farah
Executive Director, Open Debates and Citizens Debate Commision
529 14th St. NW
Suite 1201
Washington, DC 20045
Ph 202-628-9195
Fax 202-628-9196

Christopher Shaw
Organizing Director, Open Debates
(See contact info above)

Board of Directors:

John B. Anderson
Chairman, Center for Voting and Democracy
6930 Carroll Ave, Suite 610
Takoma Park, MD 20912
Ph 301-270-4616
Fax 301-270-4133

Larry Noble
Executive Director, Center for Responsive Politics
1101 14th St., NW
Suite 1030
Washington, DC 20005
Ph 202-857-0044
Fax 202-857-7809

Randall Robinson
Founder, TransAfrica Forum
1426 21st Street, NW, 2nd Floor
Washington DC 20036
Ph 202-223-1960
Fax 202-223-1966

Paul Weyrich
Chairman, Free Congress Foundation
Free Congress Foundation
717 Second Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Ph 202-546-3000
Fax 202-543-5605

Angela "Bay" Buchanan
President, The American Cause
501 Church St. Suite 217
Vienna, VA 22180
Ph 703-255-2632
Fax 703-255-2219

Jon Hanson
Harvard Law Professor
403 Griswold Hall
1525 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
Ph 617-496-5207
Fax 617-496-5156

Jamin B. Raskin
American University Law Professor
4801 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20016
Ph 202-274-4011
Fax N/A

Sample Letter:

Dear Open Debates,

While your decision to exclude most third party candidates from your previous debates was disappointing, your insistence on maintaining your organization's integrity is admirable. That being said, if you hold no debates in this election cycle your entire effort goes to waste and the reason for the existence of your organization is moot.

We once again ask that you consider commissioning a new poll to check the opinion of voters now that they have had the experience of a CPD "debate." We think you would find attitudes much changed as evidenced by the large number of editorials across the country recognizing the scripted nature of the recent event in Miami.

The Appleseed Citizen's Task Force which provided the blueprint you are following recommends the polling you are using, and even suggests the precise wording for that poll, it does not however have requirements for the timing, frequency or intervals of polls. Even the CPD criteria provide for re-sampling after debates thus allowing for participants to be added or removed according to the demands of the voting public.

Your project could result in a new paradigm for future elections but you must demonstrate that it can work in the public's best interest. If you are able to produce an open and honest debate in this election cycle you will come back in a position of strength in the next cycle and the positive change to our political process will be profound. Please commission an updated poll and show the American public what a real debate is.

YOUR NAME,

CITY, STATE

You have other choices

2004-10-04T14:51:00.000-07:00

You have other choices

I've been very concerned about the outlook lately of the current election year. Many are touting Bush and Kerry for president as our only real choices. The Bush camp, because they claim Kerry won't care about our defense, or will somehow make worse decisions than Bush on the war on terror, not to mention the flip flop excuse: the Kerry camp, because they claim Bush has made an atrocity out of the current situation, and shows no sign of improving in the future.

Sadly enough, they are both right about many things. But they do not take time to look in the mirror while making accusations.

Both of them have been doing a bad job in handling current affairs; Bush in the White House and Kerry in Congress.

Both will continue to do a horrible in defense of our country; as long preemptive strikes are the rule in defense, or the philosophy of the best defense is an offense, thus justifying our advances towards a warmonger nation, then we will never have our real defenses built up to protect ourselves; unless time is spent building actual defenses then we are still as weak as before, we are simply more of a bully than before; we cannot eradicate all of our enemies by simply destroying them, in the process we will make more and then have to destroy them, deplete the population more, advance our justifications, and repeat the cycle.

Both of them flip flop on their opinions and their decisions: for instance Bush on the 9/11 commission, which is scary because this was looking directly into how well our nation handles national emergencies such as 9/11; he was first against it, not wanting any questioning of his administrations job performance, then for it after political pressures had their way: and Kerry's decisions on the war on Iraq, again scary because American and Iraqi lives were and are at stake; first to allow the president to have the power to go to war if no other option was available, then against the 87 billion to provide our troops with protective equipment; although to be fair here, only about 60 billion of that was to go towards our troops, the rest was a blank check for whatever may arise: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c108:6:./temp/~c108Y9WOwl::.

And in fact, many senators opposed this bill in it's first form, mostly republican, because it had no method of accountability with it's contractors, and there was concern that they may abuse the funds. Kerry in fact was one of many that proposed amendments to the bill. This is the normal process for bills. Would you want a bill sent through without careful concern about certain parts, and a slew of congressmen (and woman) going through it with a fine tooth comb? Enough said.

Both of them, given their current track record and campaign promises, will do worse in handling the current situation, and will continue to pursue atrocities against US citizens and foreign citizens: both should be dragged in front of a humans right court and tried for innumerable human rights violations.

And unfortunately this is not an exhaustive list of our bleak future under the rule of either administrations. For example, they both support the Patriot Act, this act that has been ruled unconstitutional by federal and supreme courts several times! And how exactly is Kerry or Bush going to improve our nation by keeping status quo? What makes one better than the other if they both have the same plans for our future?

The definition for insanity, is extreme folly or unreasonableness. In my view this is exactly what would describe the actions of Bush and Kerry, and anyone willing to vote for such acts should be described in like manner.

So assume that your still reading this, and have not been offended yet by my words, or perhaps you agree with me, where do we go from here? We go to the third parties, such as Libertarian Michael Badnarik, et cetera.

"But I don't know anything about them" you say. Well that's a valid response, one in which I have one solution. Allow those with a mathematical chance of winning to debate in the accepted public forums! Give them a chance to give their opinions to a candid world (so to speak) and let them choose, with full information, whom they would like for a president!

If you're still with me I would like to ask you to visit a few sites in which we are trying to put this in place. Please visit the BADNARIK and Open Debates movement. Also take a chance to view this live third party debate to see how useful this can be.

posted also on http://unstableman.blogspot.com/2004/10/another-choice.html

2004-10-03T18:59:00.000-07:00

Activist Alert for 10/4/04

Today we need to make a little change and become the DebateCampagna Team. As you may know our vice presidential candidate Richard Campagna will be debating all the other third party VP candidates Tuesday, Oct. 5th in Cleveland, OH. Now we all need to let the national media and our good friend George Farah of OpenDebates.org (we're not done with them) know that there are Real Debates going on in spite of them. The official press release is posted on our website, so copy it, and paste it in an e-mail to George Farah & Chris Shaw, then bcc: the following list of media contacts. Spread the word folks, spread the word. And please continue to post to those outside blogs. We are the Badnarik/Campagna national broadcasting network!

Official Press Release

To: George Farah & Chris Shaw of OpenDebates.org

bcc: (paste in the following list)

info@ap.org,bkalbfeld@ap.org,nationalnews@herald.com,jkrauter@bradentonherald.com,
mstewart@tallahassee.com,rrankin@krwashington.com,bsecter@tribune.com,
metro@suntimes.com,oreilly@foxnews.com,comments@foxnews.com,world@msnbc.com,
pressreleases@upi.com,editor@reuters.com,netaudr@abc.com,evening@cbsnews.com,
ftn@cbsnews.com,cnn.feedback@cnn.com,journal@c-span.org,events@c-span.org,nightly@nbc.com,
newshour@pbs.org,Steve.Jones@abc.com,bobm@usaradio.com,web@pacifica.org,
ombudsman@npr.org,publicaffairs@voa.gov,info@cnbc.com,today@nbc.com,
national@latimes.com,national@nytimes.com,editor@usatoday.com,
nywireroom@dowjones.com,ombudsman@washpost.com,copelandp@shns.com,mzadrima@gannett.com,
clewis@hearst.com,news@worldnetdaily.com,national@sptimes.com,alambiet@sun-sentinel.com,
ahellmuth@orlandosentinel.com,WWhitt@tampatrib.com,cbhanif@pbpost.com,
steve.cotter@jacksonville.com,diane.tennant@heraldtribune.com,press@bastapinoy.com,
kkennedy@bocanews.com,cnews@gate.net,news@cggazette.com,editor@waterfront-news.com,
southflorida@bizjournals.com,Jean.Carey@miaminewtimes.com,ttuell@keysnews.com,
troy.moore@news-jrnl.com,cmcross@news-press.com,whblanton@naplesnews.com,
newsroom@evergladesecho.com,
news@orlando-times.com,ccarnevale@pbdailynews.com,
editorial@baileypub.com,peter.guinta@staugustinerecord.com,Mark.Tomasik@scripps.com,
pnroghaar@wptv.com,levinej@gvillesun.com,okeenews@okeechobee.com,
tom.mcniff@starbanner.com,news@pensacolanewsjournal.com,
lenore.devore@theledger.com,newstips@wfts.com,tsmith@local6.com,news@studlife.com,
DBcontactmade@yahoo.com,kevin_delany@westwoodone.com,ktvinews@foxtv.com,
news@ksdk.com,pressrelease@kmov.com,kcnews@thekansascitychannel.com,
newsdesk@kctv5.com,newstips@nbcactionnews.com,news@wdaftv4.com

Thank you for participating,
Gary Feezel
DebateCampagna Team

2004-10-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

Activist Alert for 10/3/04

We all need to reach out to those still undecided voters and even those who aren't comfortable with Bush or Kerry being the choice they may have made. We need to get on outside blogs and forums and drop a positive comment about Michael Badnarik, his policies, and the Libertarian Party wherever appropriate. Below we have listed a variety of popular political blogs that we should start to troll. The list is split up according to liberal (D), conservative (R) and non-partisan leanings. We have also provided a short list of talking points for you to base your comments on. If we all check a few blogs each, make comments and even reinforce comments made by other supporters we could stimulate a little interest in Michael Badanrik and his campaign. You are also encouraged to continue submitting Letters to the Editor, and forwarding Press Releases issued by the Badnarik campaign to your local media and the list of national media posted below in the 9/28/04 alert.

The media blackout continues so it is left to us to bring Michael Badnarik's message to the masses.

Actions to take today:

1) Work the blogs suggested with the talking points (all listed below).
2) Submit Letters to the Editor.
3) Forward Press Releases.
4) Contribute to the Michael Badnarik Campaign.

Talking points:

1) Bush & Kerry's fear of debating him.
2) He is the most viable third party candidate & on most ballots.
3) The lawsuit to stop the third debate.
4) Mention his socially liberal and fiscally conservative policies (where appropriate).
5) Refer to the Michael Badnarik website and blog.

Popular high-traffic blogs:

Daily Kos (D)
Political Animal (D)
Matthew Yglesias (D)
Talk Left (D)
Counterspin Central (D)
Digby's Hullabaloo (D)

Little Green Footballs (R)
Vodka Pundit (R)
Right Wing News (R)
Truth Laid Bear (R)
The Indepundit (R)
Wizbang (R)
Right Thinking Left Coast (R)

Slashdot
US Politics Online
Vox Day

This is not an endorsement of any of these blogs and we have no affiliation with any of them. They were selected based on their traffic volume and reader participation. If you have other blogs to suggest contact us.

Gary Feezel
DebateBadnarik Team

2004-10-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

Activist Update

With the first two REAL DEBATES (Badnarik vs. Cobb) and the first CPD bipartisan interview production and candidate review having been staged it's time we assess what we have accomplished, and what we need to do moving forward.

Despite the fact that Michael Badnarik has yet to debate the duopoly the DebateBadnarik movement has in fact been successful. The original goal of 100 activists was attained, with many others pitching in on an individual basis. While it is impossible to nail down an exact figure we have easily made well over 10,000 contacts, and had dozens of "Letters to the Editor" published across the country. If you add up the circulation numbers of the newpapers that published our letters the exposure runs into the millions of readers. It is hard to claim direct responsibility but over the last week opinion pages and columnists have echoed our view that the CPD "debates" are a sham. I like to think that the letters you activists sent to the editors influenced their writing.

Another small victory was in live contacts some of you made. One activist spoke directly with Janet Brown of the CPD, others were able to get through to people in influential positions and were able to make their point with those that control the political process. We were able to gain the attention and get a response from many of those we contacted, some even begging to be left alone. Part of our original intent was to get under the skin of the debate cabal. Check that off your list.

We will continue to focus on future debates in this movement. We will always work to get Michael Badnarik into the CPD "debates" despite the odds and in spite of the scripted formats. We will also monitor developments and actions of other groups like the Arizona Libertarians with their lawsuit, and the StLO8.org group and their protest movement at the CPD production scheduled in St. Louis. We will react accordingly to these activities. We will also continue to publicize any debate related appearance of our candidate Michael Badnarik. Stick with it folks, every contact you make heightens awareness of the Badnarik campaign and breaks down resistance to discuss his candidacy. Thank you for your participation to date and please keep working individually and with our activist alerts.

Gary Feezel
DebateBadnarik Team

2004-09-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

Tonight has been very exciting indeed! The Michael Badnarik campaign for president is accelerating and his support is growing! Tonight not only has the WWE included him in their election debate, MTV has posted an article about him, the fundraising effort on the Badnarik site is going great, but the campaign has announced that they have filed an injunction to STOP the third CPD presidential debate!

That's right! Unless MICHAEL BADNARIK is included in the third debate there might not be one AT ALL!

For tonight it is important that we look back at our efforts and continue to move forward. In the past few weeks several "Debate Badnarik" alerts have been issued. They have asked you to do the follow:

1) Contact (phone, fax, write, and email) everyone in charge of and involved with the CPD debates and DEMAND (peacefully and respectfully) that they include Michael Badnarik.

2) Contact everyone involved with the Open Debates and demand that they include Michael Badnarik.

3) Contact media all across the state of Florida (especially in the Miami area) and let them know about the third party debate Michael Badnarik will be participating in tommorow. (You know, the one that is a real "debate" in which candidates can actually ask each other questions!)

Please continue with all the above three efforts! We must keep on pushing and pushing until we get Michael Badnarik into the debates with Bush and Kerry! But most importantly, tonight please continue contacting the media contacts we have posted (and any others that you can find) about the debates Michael Badnarik will be participating in tommorow.

If you have not joined our activism list please send a message to debatebadnarik@yahoo.com

Additionally, to find sample letters and more contact information please visit our website at http://home.comcast.net/~gfeez/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html

Please keep on pushing harder and harder to get Michael Badnarik into the presidential debates!

Don't forget to tell others about this page and the Michael Badnarik website at http://www.badnarik.org

Badnarik Blog Team

More contact information.

2004-09-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

It is time we start contacting the television media of Badnarik's debate in Florida on Sept 30th.

First of all, please try and contact the following list first. These stations are closer to the debate, and would be more likely to cover it. Secondly, please go to the webpage listed at the end of the list for contact information for ALL the TV stations in Florida!

After you contact the specific stations first then please move on to as many other stations in the state as possible.

Remember, please be polite, respectful, and courteous! Do NOT be "demanding" or rude. Please politely ask them to cover this debate, and stress the importance of it and the contrast between it and the SCRIPTED and PHONEY CPD "debate".

Miami NBC6 NBC 06
(305) 379-6666
newsroom@nbc6.net
Entire team at: http://www.nbc6.net/nbc6team/index.html

Miami WFOR CBS 04
Email: http://cbs4.com/feedback/
305-591-4444

Miami WSVN FOX 07
(305) 751-6692
http://www2.wsvn.com/contact/

Miami WPLG ABC 10
http://www.local10.com/contact/index.html
(305) 576-1010

Palm Beach WPBF ABC 25
Email and Phone information:
http://www.wpbfnews.com/insidewpbf/280692/detail.html

Palm Beach CBS WPEC (Ch. 12)
Email and Phone information
http://www.wpecnews12.com/contact_us.shtml

Palm Beach FOX 29 WFLX
Email, Phone, and Fax info
http://www.wflxfox29.com/Global/story.asp?S=293990&nav=2JWu7IKa

Palm Beach NBC
Email, Phone, and Fax info
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/wptv_contact_us/

For a great website that lists ALL the television stations in Florida please visit:

http://newslink.org/fltele.html

Also, please do NOT forget to contact the list of newspaper reporters and national media in the previous post. Please continue emailing them as well.

Please call, fax, and email these stations ASAP! We need to let them know about Badnarik's upcoming debate!

Thank you!

2004-09-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

Activist Alert for 9/28/04

Never say die. We have not given up on getting Michael Badnarik into the CPD debates (no matter how contrived). And we have not given up on getting him into Open Debates. But as time is running short before those debates will be held (or not) we are going to focus on REAL DEBATES. As you probably know (or read about it here) Michael Badnarik will debate Green candidate David Cobb once again on Sept. 30th in Miami. This is the second in a series of REAL DEBATES in which presidential candidates discuss and defend their positions and inform voters on how they would lead this nation.

The REAL DEBATES will be held Thursday, Sept. 30th, at 5 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Ballroom, 1350 South Dixie Highway in Coral Gables.

We need to spread the word on these REAL DEBATES and generate as much interest and media coverage as we possibly can. If we can create a big enough buzz about these debates OpenDebates.org may be rendered obsolete.

The bundle of e-mail addresses below is for major national media outlets, newswires and radio syndicates, as well as every major newspaper in Florida (names available on request, or they will be posted on our website later). Please send an e-mail to George Farah of Open debates, copy the list of names below and paste it in the "cc" or "bcc" line of your e-mail. Tell them all that you insist on REAL DEBATES and you want the media to cover this event between Badnarik and Cobb.

info@ap.org,bkalbfeld@ap.org,nationalnews@herald.com,jkrauter@bradentonherald.com,
mstewart@tallahassee.com,rrankin@krwashington.com,bsecter@tribune.com,
metro@suntimes.com,oreilly@foxnews.com,comments@foxnews.com,world@msnbc.com,
pressreleases@upi.com,editor@reuters.com,netaudr@abc.com,evening@cbsnews.com,
ftn@cbsnews.com,cnn.feedback@cnn.com,journal@c-span.org,events@c-span.org,
nightly@nbc.com,newshour@pbs.org,Steve.Jones@abc.com,bobm@usaradio.com,
web@pacifica.org,ombudsman@npr.org,publicaffairs@voa.gov,
info@cnbc.com,today@nbc.com,national@latimes.com,
national@nytimes.com,editor@usatoday.com,nywireroom@dowjones.com,
ombudsman@washpost.com,copelandp@shns.com,mzadrima@gannett.com,clewis@hearst.com,
news@worldnetdaily.com,national@sptimes.com,alambiet@sun-sentinel.com,
ahellmuth@orlandosentinel.com,WWhitt@tampatrib.com,cbhanif@pbpost.com,
steve.cotter@jacksonville.com,diane.tennant@heraldtribune.com,press@bastapinoy.com,
kkennedy@bocanews.com,cnews@gate.net,news@cggazette.com,
editor@waterfront-news.com,southflorida@bizjournals.com,Jean.Carey@miaminewtimes.com,
ttuell@keysnews.com,troy.moore@news-jrnl.com,
cmcross@news-press.com,whblanton@naplesnews.com,newsroom@evergladesecho.com,
news@orlando-times.com,ccarnevale@pbdailynews.com,
editorial@baileypub.com,peter.guinta@staugustinerecord.com,Mark.Tomasik@scripps.com,
pnroghaar@wptv.com,levinej@gvillesun.com,okeenews@okeechobee.com,
tom.mcniff@starbanner.com,news@pensacolanewsjournal.com,
lenore.devore@theledger.com,newstips@wfts.com,tsmith@local6.com,DBcontactmade@yahoo.com

Get going folks your support up to now has been spectacular. We have a debate scheduled for our candidate now let's make sure the whole country knows about it.

2004-09-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

Priority Activist Alert 9/25/04

Note: Developments on this issue come quickly. While I was preparing this alert a statement by George Farah of Open Debates and a response by Stephen Gordon were posted on the Badnarik blog. The continuing stalemate makes this alert all the more important, we must turn up the heat on OpenDebates.org. Read on for the details, start the mailings tonight, and remember DO NOT BE OFFENSIVE! We need these debates....

As you may have read on the Badnarik Campaign blog Open Debates has ostensibly excluded Michael Badnarik from their debates. I say ostensibly because we simply are not going to accept that. I spoke a short time ago with Christopher Shaw of Open Debates and he said that while they have not have not altered their position they are in discussions with Stephen Gordon of the Badnarik campaign. I think it is our duty as activists to influence the decision making process. We must reach out to all the members of OpenDebates.org to register our dismay and disappointment at this development. Remember we are trying to win them over to our way of thinking so be polite yet resolute.

The integrity if their own debates is at stake if they alter their own criteria but there are things to be considered before they make their ultimate decision. The poll used was heavily weighted with democrat and republican voters who have much to gain by excluding third party candidates. A media blackout lowers name recognition for third party candidates. Among those who do recognize Michael Badnarik's name he has high approval numbers. The third party candidates who otherwise qualify for these debates represent a broad variety of opinions and would offer vigorous, informative, and compelling debates. It is not likely that Bush and Kerry will attend these debates and Ralph Nader alone on stage does not make a debate.

We must act now! The next debate is scheduled for Tuesday the 28th in Swarthmore, PA.

Below you will find some initial contact information for Open Debates, we will add more as we gather it. You will also find a sample letter to sign your name to and send off. You know what to do.

Contacts:

George Farah
Executive Director, Open Debates and Citizens Debate Commision
529 14th St. NW
Suite 1201
Washington, DC 20045
Ph 202-628-9195
Fax 202-628-9196

Christopher Shaw
Organizing Director, Open Debates
(See contact info above)

Board of Directors:

John B. Anderson
Chairman, Center for Voting and Democracy
6930 Carroll Ave, Suite 610
Takoma Park, MD 20912
Ph 301-270-4616
Fax 301-270-4133

Larry Noble
Executive Director, Center for Responsive Politics
1101 14th St., NW
Suite 1030
Washington, DC 20005
Ph 202-857-0044
Fax 202-857-7809

Randall Robinson
Founder, TransAfrica Forum
1426 21st Street, NW, 2nd Floor
Washington DC 20036
Ph 202-223-1960
Fax 202-223-1966

Paul Weyrich
Chairman, Free Congress Foundation
Free Congress Foundation
717 Second Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Ph 202-546-3000
Fax 202-543-5605

Angela "Bay" Buchanan
President, The American Cause
501 Church St. Suite 217
Vienna, VA 22180
Ph 703-255-2632
Fax 703-255-2219

Pat Choate Refrain from contacting until new address is found please.
Chairman, Congressional Economic Leadership Institute
201 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E., C-6
Washington, D.C. 20002
Ph 202-546-5007
Fax 202-546-7037
(No e-mail address send to David Klaus att: Pat Choate)

Jon Hanson
Harvard Law Professor
403 Griswold Hall
1525 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
Ph 617-496-5207
Fax 617-496-5156

Jamin B. Raskin
American University Law Professor
4801 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20016
Ph 202-274-4011
Fax N/A

Sample Letter:

Dear Open Debates,

As a supporter of Libertarian Candidate Michael Badnarik I ask that you commission a new poll and reconsider your decision to exclude him from your debate.

Backed by a strong belief in Mr. Badnarik's debating ability, and bolstered by multiple polls showing that the vast majority of the public wants to see him debate other presidential candidates we began a letter writing campaign over a month ago. Our goal is to get our candidate in any and every presidential debate, and to open the debates to all viable candidates. Now we find we must focus our attention on your organization.

During our campaign we have made literally thousands of contacts and placed dozens of "Letters to the Editor" with the potential of reaching millions of readers. Operating in good faith we included information about your organization and your debates in virtually every contact we made. I don't mean to imply that a return favor is due but for the American people to have truly open debates we must have an organization to produce them and viable candidates to appear in them. We have worked towards that ideal from the start, now we ask that you follow through.

Your Name,
City, State

2004-09-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

Activist Alert for 9/24/04

Forgive the delay in getting an alert posted. Scheduling conflicts kept us from getting it done and at the same time each of us though the other guy was doing it.

Let me say everyone's participation has been inspiring, and it really keeps us going. Finding new contacts, writing new letters, putting together these alerts, and keeping up with the incoming mail can be a time consuming effort. But it is all made worth while when we see so many others who believe in Michael Badnarik, and want to get him in the debates as much as we do.

We are working on contacts and content for a whole new angle that I am sure you will find exciting so stand by for that while we get it ready. I know you'll want to take part in that but in the mean time there is more work to be done. Please take the following actions to help Michael Badnarik win this election.

1) Contribute what ever you can spare to the Badnarik Campaign. Your help here is important, your financial help is crucial!
2) Send a Letter to the Editor to all of your local newspapers

You can find sample letters and leads to help find your local media links at our website. Not brag but I had three different LTE's published in the last week in Chicago area papers. All of the those letters are taken from the samples on the website.

Thanks for your participation,
Gary Feezel

Stats update

2004-09-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

Looking over the stats I've noticed a lot of people coming from the campaign site, but I've also noticed a few from other places; like jibjab! for instance.

Here are a few visits from afar:

jibjab!
boards.fool.com (requires a free registration)
yahoo
google

Keep it up guys. We need to spread this as wide and far as possible; not only for Badnarik's sake, but also for all third parties, Green's, Constitution, et cetera, and for the sake of those who care about having real alternatives and the full picture of the issues.

Activism Alert for 9/23/04

2004-09-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

Activist Alert for 9/23/04

A rift seems to be developing between the Commission on Presidential Debates and the Bush & Kerry camps. It seems that the CPD is uncomfortable with some of the demands being made by those candidates and apparently the moderators aren't too pleased either. Let's see if we can't drive the wedge a little deeper. Tonight we have a letter to declare Michael Badnarik ready to debate - no holds barred! Try to send this to each and every one of the CPD Board members, and the Bush & Kerry camps as well. Let them know you are out there and paying attention to what they are doing.

This campaign is working. We have reports from several activists of getting Letters to the Editor printed, a lot of replies are being reported, and one live contact with Janet Brown of the CPD has been made. More on that in a future post.

A New sample letter can be found at the bottom of the contact list below. You can find other samples at our website or never hesitate to write your own. Keep those calls and letters going out we're going to make this happen.

Contacts for the Bush & Kerry Campaigns

Bush-Cheney '04, Inc. (General Contact)P.O. Box 10648Arlington, VA 22210ph: 703-647-2700fax: 703-647-2993

John Kerry for President, Inc. (General Contact)P.O. Box 34640Washington, DC 20043ph: 202-712-3000fax: 202-712-3001

Contacts for the CPD Board

Janet H. Brown - Executive Director CPD1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW Suite 445Washington, D.C. 20036Ph 202-872-1020Fax N/A

Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. - Co-Chair CPD (R)Hogan & Hartson LLP555 Thirteenth St., NWWashington, D.C. 20004Ph 202-637-6501Fax 202-637-5910(E-mail may not be working, feel free to call or use snail-mail.)

Paul G. Kirk, Jr. - Co-Chair CPD (D)Sullivan & Worcester LLPOne Post Office SquareBoston, MA 02109Ph 617-338-2800Fax 617-338-2880

Howard G. Buffett - Board of Directors CPD (General contact at his private company)Buffett Images407 Southmoreland PlaceDecatur, IL 62521Ph 217-428-7058Fax 217-429-0206orBerkshire Hathaway, Inc. (General contact at his dad's company)1440 Kiewit PlazaOmaha, NE 68131Ph 800-786-6426Fax N/A

Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-WA) - Board of Directors CPD1501 Longworth House Office BuildingWashington, D.C. 20515Ph 202-225-7761Fax 202-225-8673or2737 78th Ave., S.E.Suite 202Mercer Island, WA 98040Ph 206-275-3438Fax 206-275-3437

Antonia Hernandez - Board of Directors CPDPresident, California Community Foundation445 S. Figueroa St.Suite 3400Los Angeles, CA 90071Ph 213-413-4130Fax 213-622-2979

Caroline Kennedy - Board of Directors CPD (General contact JFK Foundation)The Kennedy FoundationColumbia PointBoston, MA 02125Ph 617-514-1550Fax 617-436-3395

Newton N. Minow - Board of Directors CPDSidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP10 S. Dearborn St.Chicago, IL 60603Ph 312-853-7555Fax 312-853-7036

Dorothy S. Ridings - Board of Directors CPD (General contact COF)President, Council on Foundations1828 L Street, NWWashington, D.C. 20036Ph 202-466-6512Fax 202-785-3926

H. Patrick Swygert - Board of Directors CPDPresident, Howard University2400 Sixth St, NWWashington, D.C. 20059Ph 202-806-2500Fax N/A

Sample Letter

Dear Commission on Presidential Debates,

Are you becoming frustrated with the rules, conditions, and stipulations being demanded of your organization by the Republican and Democratic Parties?

Has it become frustrating to deal with two candidates that apparently don't want a "real" debate, but heavily scripted pre-planned game show?

Then please consider allowing Michael Badnarik the Libertarian candidate for president into your presidential debates. In addition to being on the ballot in more states than any other third party candidate, being a part of the best organized alternative political party in the United States, running alongside hundreds of other libertarian candidates from coast to coast, and being the only true small government choice for president this election he would require NO SPECIAL CONDITIONS to participate.

Please let me repeat that and make this statement even clearer. Michael Badnarik would NOT insist on or require any specials rules, stipulations, or conditions before agreeing to participate in your debates. Michael Badnarik is a political candidate that desires to participate in the debate as an honest citizen, candidate, and human being that simply wants to share and defend his positions on the issues facing this nation and world. His sole desire is to present his honest opinions, feelings, and desires with the nation and the other candidates.

Unlike the other political parties that are wrangling with your organization over a wide range of demanded rules and specifications for the debate...

Michael Badnarik is not scared to be asked any question.

Michael Badnarik is not scared to comment on any topic that might come up.

Michael Badnarik is not scared of any other candidate that might be participating.

Because Michael Badnarik does not fear having to tell the truth about any issue, and is willing to do so frankly and in a moments notice!

The other candidates apparently don't feel safe or competent without a long list of rules being followed in the hope that they will not be pushed out of their "comfort zone".

Michael Badnarik understands in a debate there should be no such thing as such a "comfort zone" and that the voters of this nation deserve a real debate where there should be no such stipulations that transform a much needed passionate debate into a scripted meaningless talk.

If you would like to have a fresh voice and a new burst of energy added to the debates then please invite Michael Badnarik to participate. The Republicans and Democrats are asking for many proposed new rules and stipulations for YOUR debates. Why not in response change one of YOUR rules and allow Michael Badnarik to participate and give them a clear message that you desire this years debate to be truly meaningful, and YOU are in charge of the event.

If the Republicans and Democrats are trying to push your organization around then please consider giving them a surprise, and the citizens of this nation the opportunity to hear from the most refreshing and courageous candidate Michael Badnarik.

Sincerely,YOUR NAME,CITY, STATE

By the way if you haven't noticed the campaign's new site is up tonight! Check it out.

2004-09-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

Activist Alert for 9/22/04

Since the republicrats have announced thier full schedule for psuedo-debates today we will reach out to James A. Baker and Vernon Jordan, the negotiators for the Bush and Kerry campaigns respectively. We have also compiled a large list of e-mail addresses for some nationally syndicated writers and a few TV news outlets. Send your e-mails To: Baker & Jordan and cc: the list of reporters below. It may be a long shot but maybe one of the reporters will contact the negotiators or vise-versa.

James A. Baker III
Baker Institute for Public Policy
Rice University
P.O. Box 1892
Houston, TX 77251
Ph 713-348-4683
Fax 713-348-5993

Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Robert S. Strauss Building
1333 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
Ph 202-887-4000
Fax 202-887-4288

Copy the following list and paste it in CC:
SChapman@tribune.com;editor@reuters.com;lpitts@herald.com;georgewill@washpost.com;
Agreel@aol.com;aklein@worldnetdaily.com;shuntley@suntimes.com;bsecter@tribune.com;
public@nytimes.com;newseditors@wsj.com;feedback@wsj.com;abramowitz@washpost.com;
Hannity@foxnews.com;Colmes@foxnews.com;Friends@foxnews.com;Oreilly@foxnews.com;
KOlbermann@MSNBC.com;info@ap.org;npickler@ap.org;arianna@ariannaonline.com;
info@creators.com;jonahnro@aol.com;sage@larryelder.com;linda@libertybroadcasting.com;
drudge@drudgereport.com;cre8ors@aol.com;Phyllis@EagleForum.org;hardball@msnbc.com;
investigations_desk@upi.com;nchiaia@upi.com;politics_desk@upi.com;bdold@tribune.com;
RAP30@aol.com;DBcontactmade@yahoo.com

Here's a sample letter you can copy and paste to our selected group. Feel free to re-write it or write your own or use one of the sample letters posted on our website.

To Whom It May Concern,

The announcement of President Bush and Senator Kerry's negotiated appearances at three debates is encouraging but falls short of the electorate's expectations. The scripted nature and intentional exclusion of third party candidates limits the ability of the voting public to make informed decisions on election day.

We are calling for Bush and Kerry to embrace true open debates as proposed by the non-partisan Citizens Debate Commission. The CDC's concept of debates would offer a better exchange of ideas, provide more practical guidelines for accepting third party candidates, and is endorsed by many freedom loving Americans.

The citizens of this great nation are entitled to more honest debates that will leave them better informed as to the positions of all viable presidential candidates. To learn more about the CDC debates visit http://www.citizensdebate.org/ , to learn more about open debates and the problems with the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates visit opendebates.org , and to find out about the ongoing grassroots effort to get Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik into the debates visit http://debatebadnarik.blogspot.com/.

YOUR NAME,
CITY,STATE

As always we ask that you also submit letters to your local Letters to the Editor and your local media's political writers and TV reporters. Don't forget too to spread the word about debatebadnarik.blogspot.com and encourage others to join the effort. Together we CAN get Michael Badnarik into the debates. Thank you for participating.

Gary Feezel
DebateBadnarik Team

Countdown to the first debate: Badnarik in 10 Days!?

2004-09-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

Action Alert 9/21/04

The first debate will be upon us all in just under ten days! In a short period of time we have gathered together an ever growing group of individuals that have been sending out a steady stream of letters, emails, and phone calls. They have been telling those in charge of the debates, those who will be hosting the debates, and the media that will be covering the debates that Michael Badnarik the Libertarian candiate for president MUST BE INCLUDED!

Our effort is just beginning, and it is time for another round of contacts with tonights activism alert!

First of all, we have two specific individuals we would like for you to contact:

The first individual is Donna E Shalala, President of the University of Miami. She will be hosting the first presidential debate which will be taking place in just under ten days. Lets all contact her! Here is her contact information:

230 Ashe Administration Building1252 Memorial Drive Coral Gables, FL 33146 MAP
Phone: 305-284-5155 E-mail: dshalala@miami.edu

And if that email does not work, please send it directly through her website at: http://www.miami.edu/UMH/cgi/send-email/1,3342,,00.html?email=dshalala@miami.edu

The second contact we want you to make tonight is Janet H. Brown the Executive Director of the CPD. Her contact information is as follows:

1200 New Hampshire Ave., NWSuite 445 Washington, D.C., 20036
Phone: 202-872-1020 Fax: N/A E-mail: jb@debates.org

Please make sure that you email, call, and write both of these individuals, and if possible copy the correspondence with each one to the other contact. That way they will each know the other is aware of the increasing pressure to allow Michael Badnarik into the debates!

Once you contact them please make a post on this blog and let us know that your contact was made! Not only will it help document the contacts that have been made, but will send a clear message to others visiting this site that they need to join in on the effort!

Now, don't forget to continue doing all of the following each day:

1) Contacting *all* of the CPD members and debate hosts.
2) Writing and sending letters to the newspaper editors in your area.
3) Continually seeking new contacts with media outlets (national and local) and political reporters so you can let them know Michael Badnarik deserves to be included in the debates.

Better yet, when you possibly can copy the correspondence with one person to a media outlet or political reporter. Let the individuals you are contacting know that many others KNOW that they are being contacted! Keep up the pressure!

For all the contact information and newly updated sample letters that you can use as a guideline for your own please visit our website and please click here and join our activism list if you have not already!

Also, please feel free to copy your letters to debatebadnarik@yahoo.com as well.

Don't forget to spread the word about debatebadnarik.blogspot.com and let others know they need to get involved!

There is a lot of work left to do, but if we all work together we can get Michael Badnarik into the debates!

We look forward to your comments!

Stats now live!

2004-09-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

I have just added a stat counter to the site; you may notice it on the left side under our blog roll. This shows the amount of unique visits we've had.

We may be releasing full site visit stats at a near future date.

Enjoy,
Michael Christenson

P.S.

The stats' start now.

2004-09-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

Activist Alert for 9/20/04

For today's alert we have a couple new letters that were submitted by fellow activists. They are tailored to the board members of the CPD, the group we need to get through to most. So select one of the "All New CPD Letters" or one of the originals and send it to as many board members as you have time for. I can't stress enough the importance of getting newspaper letters and articles published or even getting your local TV to do reports so we'll keep working those lines. If you have written your own letters and want to submit them for others to use we could use some fresh material. Please submit your letters here. Everyone's participation has been great and we have just over a week to see if it will pay off.

1) Contact the CPD Board Members
2) Letters to the Editor
3) Lean on your local political reporters (Newspaper and TV)

Sample letters and contact addresses can be found at our website. the letters are posted under "Highlights" and the contacts are in the links to the left of the page.

Gary Feezel

2004-09-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

Activist Alert for 9/19/04

Let's reach out to the some of the past sponsors of the debates and let them know that it's wrong to support those that would subvert the political process. Corporations can get uncomfortable when you call them out on their political involvement, and we should make them squirm. Of course you should also check your local papers. Find out who writes stories or columns on political issues, and who the political editors are. We need to pressure them to expose the sham of the debates and to promote OpenDebates.org. Finally help us spread the word about this effort to outside blogs, chatrooms, or other forums you participate in, even non-Libertarians who believe we need to open the debates can help. We're doing great so far, but we can always use help.

1. Contact debate sponsors AARP, Anheuser-Busch, and/or the Century Foundation.

2. Write your local political writers, pressure them to write about open debates.

3. Use other blogs, discussion forums, and mailing lists to help us find more activists. We need voices to get Michael Badnarik into the debates!

Don't forget the Lights of Liberty Award for getting three or more LTE's published, and don't be afraid to follow up with the newspapers you write to and push them to write your letters. Sample letters and contact addresses can be found at our website. the letters are posted under "Highlights" and the contacts are in the links to the left of the page.

Gary Feezel

2004-09-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

Lights of Liberty Award

While working to get Michael Badnarik into the debates keep the Lights of Liberty Award in mind. This award is granted by the Advocates for Self Government, the same folks who bring you "The World's Smallest Political Quiz" online. To win the award you need to get three "Letters to the Editor" published in one year that include the word Libertarian. You also qualify if you work three shifts in an OPH booth, or give three Libertarian themed speeches to non-Libertarian groups. Once you reach these goals you will receive a certificate, recognition from your local, state, and the national parties, a free subscription to The Libertarian Communicator magazine, and other fabulous prizes.

All this just for promoting something you already believe in! Check out the details here if you want and start sending out those letters to get the "Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik" into the debates. (Hint, hint)

Gary Feezel

Activist Alert for 9/18/04

2004-09-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

Activism Alert for 9/18/04

First of all, a big thank you needs to go out for everyone that has made contacts so far! There are many more to make, but each one makes an impact that will bring us inch by inch closer to having Michael Badnarik included in the debates.

We need to keep pounding the media, weaken their resolve to keep the media blackout going. Send a new Letter to the Editor every day until you're published. Everyone should develop their own contact list for your local media and keep that handy, you can get leads at our website . For today's featured outreach we're going to hit the another debate host. The name of this host is Edward M. Hundert, President of Case Western Reserve University. He will be hosting the second debate which will be between vice presidential candidates. Write in support of the Libertarian VP candidate, Richard Campagna.

His contact information is as follows:

Case Western Reserve University Edward M. Hundert, President
10900 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, OH 44106
2nd Presidential Debate Host

Phone: 216-368-2000 Fax: N/A E-mail: president@case.edu

Here are your priorities for today:

1. Contact the debate hosts, particularly Edward M. Hundert whose contact information is listed above.

2. Send a "Letter to the Editor" to all your local papers

3. Write to the Political Editor of your local TV, Radio, and Newspapers demanding they cover this inequity, and mention OpenDebates.org as a legitimate debate option.
Sample letters and contact addresses can be found at our new website. the letters are posted under "Highlights" and the contacts are in the links to the left of the page. If you cc:http://debatebadnarik.blogspot.com/DBcontactmade@yahoo.com it will help us keep track of the volume of contacts made.

Remember, in your letters please be to the point, but also polite and respectful.

Let's get our candidate into the debates. Also, please tell others and spread the word about what's happening here at http://debatebadnarik.blogspot.com

Now it's time for all of us to get to work!

2004-09-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Activist Alert for 9/17/04

We need to keep pounding the media, weaken their resolve to keep the media blackout going. Send a new Letter to the Editor every day until you're published. Everyone should develop their own contact list for your local media and keep that handy, you can get leads at our website . For today's featured outreach we're going to hit the debate hosts. The first CPD debate will be 9/30/04 at the University of Miami. Interestingly the president there is Donna Shalala. You may recall she was the HHS Secretary during the Clinton regime.

1. Contact the debate hosts, particularly Donna Shalala at UM
2. Send a "Letter to the Editor" to all your local papers
3. Write to the Political Editor of your local TV, Radio, and Newspapers demanding they cover this inequity, and mention OpenDebates.org as a legitimate debate option.

Sample letters and contact addresses can be found at our new website. the letters are posted under "Highlights" and the contacts are in the links to the left of the page. If you cc:DBcontactmade@yahoo.comit will help us keep track of the volume of contacts made. Let's get our candidate into the debates.

Gary Feezel

2004-09-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Bartender

One of our fellow activists, Mr. X mentioned that he has been unable to reach Janet Brown of the CPD by phone and it made me wonder what kind of responses other folks have been getting.

My favorite so far is from debate sponsor Anheuser-Busch who wrote in part..."Although we are sponsors of the debates, Anheuser-Busch has had no role in determining any aspect of how the debates will take place". Hence the title of this post. At least they read the letter I sent. I got an interesting one from the Kerry campaign. In thier response they spelled my name wrong, which tells me a real human read it and prepared the response, but of course the bulk of their letter was standard campaign form letter and a plea for money. I get plenty responses of the "we'll get back to you" variety, which can be expected.

Anyone have any good war stories from your efforts? How about successes? Share them in comments or through e-mail. Keep up the good work everyone.

Gary Feezel

2004-09-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

Activist Alert for 9/16/04

We have contact information for many people involved in putting on the debates and we should lean on all of them eventually. However as Jeff Frazee of the Badnarik campaign pointed out our best chance of success will be to have the Bush and Kerry camps feel broad public pressure to debate Michael Badnarik. So for today we need everyone to do the following:

1.Contact the Bush & Kerry campaigns
2. Send a "Letter to the Editor" to all your local papers
3. Write to the Political Editor of your local TV, Radio, and Newspapers demanding they cover this inequity, and mention OpenDebates.org as a legitimate debate option.

Sample letters and contact addresses can be found at our new website. the letters are posted under "Highlights" and the contacts are in the links to the left of the page. If you cc:DBcontactmade@yahoo.com it will help us keep track of the volume of contacts made. Let's get our candidate into the debates.

Gary Feezel

2004-09-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

Website is now up

Our new website is now up and running. It should be much easier to use than scrolling up and down this blog. Jump over there and send a couple e-mails to the Commission on Presidential Debates. We need to pressure them to let Michael Badnarik occupy his rightful place on the stage with Bush and Kerry. Be sure to also write to your local Letters to the Editor to make others aware of this injustice.

Gary Feezel

2004-09-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

Better Things To Come

I have more letters and more contacts waiting in the wings. It's all become too cumbersome and unwieldy to put up on a blog so I've spent this day creating a crude yet effective website. I hope to have it launched late tomorrow and then I hope folks will join in.

Mine this blog, make all the contacts you can, it can only help. Otherwise please stand by.

Gary Feezel

2004-09-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

Contacts and Sample Letters for the Competition

Contact:

Bush-Cheney '04, Inc. (General Contact)
P.O. Box 10648
Arlington, VA 22210
ph: 703-647-2700
fax: 703-647-2993

John Kerry for President, Inc. (General Contact)
P.O. Box 34640
Washington, DC 20043
ph: 202-712-3000
fax: 202-712-3001

NOTE: With all e-mails please cc: DBcontactmade@yahoo.com You can't "cc:" us from the Kerry site. Please send us an e-mail with "Kerry" in the subject line.

Dear President Bush (or Senator Kerry),

As an independent voter I write to both challenge and implore you to demand that the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) ease their restrictive criteria, and allow viable third party candidates into the debates.

Before you claim you have no control over the CPD let's admit that argument holds no water. As we all know the CPD is chaired and directed by highly influential members of your own party. Additionally ample evidence and history shows that as a major party candidate you hold major sway over the production and content of the debates through you negotiations with the CPD and your major party opponent.

Statements made by the CPD prove that their intent is to strengthen the two party system which is to the detriment of democracy. What is best for the major two parties is not necessarily what is best for the country. Studies show that as much as 35% of all voters declare themselves as independent. Which would indicate that you and your major party opponent can not and do not adequately represent a sizable portion of the population.

If your presidency would be so right for the country, if your positions are so wise, and your leadership so true you would have nothing to fear from honest and open debates with all viable candidates. Indeed free and open debate is the fuel that democracy thrives upon. Again I challenge and implore you to demand that candidates such as Libertarian Michael Badnarik be allowed into the debates.

Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
YOUR CITY, STATE

Thank you for participating.
Gary Feezel

2004-09-06T11:28:00.000-07:00

Contacts and Sample Letters to the Editor

Contacts:

"LTE" e-mail addresses for top 100 newspapers in the country.

Media website list state by state for your local papers.

Thanks to ElectionReform.org for the above contacts.

NOTE: With all e-mails please cc: DBcontactmade@yahoo.com if you can't "cc" us please send an e-mail with "LTE" in the subject line.

Sample Letter 1 - Compliments of Y. Kelly of Texas

Dear Editor:
The presidential debates are almost here. I ask for reader support to open these debates to include all electable presidential candidates. This year a very high percentage of voters (20%+ according to the Cato Institute) are disenfranchised and unhappy with the two-party candidates. Hence, the public is best served by having a true, unbiased picture of the alternate choices by seeing ALL candidates in this forum.

The Republican and Democratic candidates typically refuse to debate with third party candidates, citing their own arbitrary standards for exclusion. They own the system, make the rules and act like a ruling establishment who knows best about what choices YOU the voter should be ALLOWED. But, it is WE THE PEOPLE who own the system and if we don't own the debates, we don't own our votes. An open date could be fiery! It might actually increase public interest in the election. People might be empowered to see that their vote matters. Contrast that to what you've fallen asleep to in the past.......Republican and Democratic "pet" journalists, asking pre-scripted, softball questions, complete with rehearsed answers. Is that how they keep their seats on Air Force One at your expense?

Here's a simple, quick way to assert your right to hear ALL the candidates and ALL the facts. Go to http://opendebates.org/yourrole/petition/ and sign the petition NOW. Call the Kerry and Bush campaigns on their toll free numbers and tell them it is not acceptable to exclude third-party candidates who are on the ballot in enough states to be electable. Call their bluff. Don't leave it to someone else. It's your vote. Make it count.

YOUR NAME,
CITY, STATE

Sample Letter 2 - Compliments of T. Blanton of Virginia

Dear Editor,
Americans are being deprived of meaningful political discourse because Bush and Kerry are too much alike. Besides being Skull and Bones frat brothers, they are both big government establishment politicians. Bush and Kerry share a fondness for the same sort of policies. Kerry did not oppose Bush's Iraq War, Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, or Prescription Drug Benefit Plan. The debates will be little more than a showcase for the rhetorical performances of Bush and Kerry. Of course, they will present a plethora of promises and programs to be paid for by us. Voters are short-changed when debate is reduced to partisan platitudes. Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik (www.badnarik.org) will not be at the debates. Despite achieving ballot access in most states and a Rasmussen poll showing 68% in favor of including Badnarik in the debates, he will be excluded. Are the Bonesmen afraid of Badnarik?

YOUR NAME,
CITY, STATE

Sample Letter 3 - Contributed by J. Spinks of New Mexico

Dear Editor,
Currently the qualification to compete in the debates is 15% of the national vote. I would submit that any candidate that is placed on the ballot for 2/3rds of the States should be allowed to debate. This is a guideline given by the U.S. Constitution to pass an amendment. Why then can't a candidate be qualified to debate under the same requirements?

I submit the current requirement is simply a number picked out of the air, to further restrict the Democratic process of election. If more than 7 candidates run who then gets their voice heard better than the others? Simple math: 7X15=105%. Does this mean that 1 candidate of the 7 gets the boot? Lets hope its a major party candidate.

YOUR NAME,
CITY, STATE

NOTE: We are in need of more sample letters if you wish to contribute letters to be posted here e-mail to debatebadnarik@yahoo.com

Thank you for participating,
Gary Feezel

2004-09-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

Contacts and Sample Letter for Sponsors

Contact:

Anheuser-Busch, Inc. (General Contact)
One Busch Place
St. Louis, MO 63118
800-342-5283

Sandra E. Ulsh, President (General Contact)
Ford Motor Company Fund
One American Road
P.O. Box 1899
Dearborn, MI 48126
888-313-0102

AARP (General Contact)
601 E Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20049
888-687-2277

NOTE: With all e-mails please cc: DBcontactmade@yahoo.com

Dear Debate Sponsor,

I am writing regarding your past sponsorship of the presidential debates, an endeavor that could be and should be both noble and honorable. However as more Americans become aware of the blatant biases and obvious bi-partisanship of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) the wisdom of your organization's sponsorship comes into question.

Statements made by the co-chairs of the CPD, republican Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. and democrat Paul G. Kirk, Jr. make it clear that they intend to exclude third parties and control political discourse. This manipulation of such an important part of our political process is an affront to democracy and your organization's support of the CPD is therefore troubling.

Recently the CPD's tax exempt status has been challenged and a federal judge has ordered the FEC to investigate the CPD for violations of election law. You need to look within your organization and within yourself and ask if the CPD's debates are really something with which you want to be associated. Political scandals could adversely affect your corporation and it's marketing strategies.

I ask that you decline to sponsor the CPD debates as you have in the past and join the many voices demanding open debates for viable third party candidates such as Michael Badnarik of the Libertarian Party.

Sincerely,
YOUR NAME,
CITY, STATE

Thank you for participating,
Gary Feezel

2004-09-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

Sample Letter for Gallup Poll

Contact:

Frank Newport, (General Contact)
Editor in Chief
The Gallup Organization
901 F Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20004

Dear Frank Newport,

As you well know in the next few days the Commission on Presidential Debates will begin to assess national polls as part of their criteria to determine which candidates will be allowed into the first presidential debate. Your dual role of Editor in Chief of Gallup Polls, and consultant to the CPD creates a glaring conflict of interest. Especially since the Gallup organization does not include third party candidates in your polls. This ethical lapse calls into question the impartiality and integrity of every presidential poll conducted by the Gallup organization. Therefore I demand that you recuse yourself and the entire Gallup organization from conducting polls that will be used to qualify participants in the CPD debates.

YOUR NAME,
CITY, STATE

NOTE: With all e-mails please cc: DBcontactmade@yahoo.com

Thank you for participating,
Gary Feezel

2004-09-06T10:08:00.000-07:00

Contacts and Sample Letters for CPD

Contact:
Janet H. Brown - Executive Director CPD
1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW Suite 445
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-872-1020

Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. - Co-Chair CPD (R)
Hogan & Hartson LLP
555 Thirteenth St., NW
Washington, D.C. 20004
202-637-5600
(Can only be reached by e-mail through Warren Gorrell. Follow the links.)

Paul G. Kirk, Jr. - Co-Chair CPD (D)
Sullivan & Worcester LLP
One Post Office Square
Boston, MA 02109
617-338-2800

NOTE: With all e-mails please cc: DBcontactmade@yahoo.com

Letter 1: Ridicule. As long as they mock the politcal process we may as well mock them.

The results of your organizations manipulations of the "debates" over these many years is laughable. America is waking up to the fraud you are perpetrating and tuning out in record numbers. Your mockery of open political debate is a part of the reason that third parties have proliferated and grown in recent years, and I encourage you to continue your ignorant and boorish attempt to control political discourse, as it plays into our hands.

If you do not open your "debates" through realistic criteria to all viable presidential candidates you will only further demonstrate the corrupted nature of your endeavor, and drive more voters to the third parties you are trying to eradicate. The voters of America are fully aware of your ham-handed rigging of the "debates" and the scripted nature of the shallow bipartisan snoozefest you produce.

If you think that anything you are organizing and portraying as "debate" will ever be viewed with the historical reverence of the Lincoln - Douglas debates of 1858, or even the Kennedy - Nixon debate of 1960 you are sadly mistaken. Your commission's silly and foolish formatting has only resulted in further diminishing the audience with every "debate" you put on. In fact according to your own website your commission has never come close to drawing the number of people who crowded around the radio to hear such obscure debates as the Dewey - Stassen debates of 1948 (up to 80 million). Keep up the good work of getting the voice and platforms of the democrats and republicans out to fewer and fewer voters with every election cycle, your efforts provide strength and validity to the third parties.

YOUR NAME,
CITY, STATE

Letter 2: Soul Appeal. Although spirituality is not my strong suit I thought maybe we could reach their human side. Even they must have one.

As the documentation of the Commission on Presidential Debates' blatant bias and defacto bipartisanship, not nonpartisanship, is brought to light and the public's awareness of the Commission's manipulations grows it is time to look within yourself and ask if your complicity and assistance in the hijacking of our political process is good for your soul?

It may come as a surprise to you to learn that you do not speak for everyone, nor do the candidates you promote through the conspiracy you call "candidate selection." It is not up to you individually or the cabal you call a commission to select nor determine who is a viable presidential candidate. That is for the voters to decide. Your chosen mandate is to produce debates between presidential candidates. Your oppression of multitudes of voters with opinions that differ from yours is unconscionable and I am left to wonder how you will be judged in the here after.

As you do ponder your selection of candidates for the presidential debates please determine if your choices are right with your god and your spiritual beliefs. Regardless of your decision you will demonstrate the nature of your character.

YOUR NAME,
CITY, STATE

Letter 3: Statistical Analysis. I got a little windy one this one but I used every statistic I could dig up to show how their debates have been a dismal failure. Don't worry I am not "wavering" as I wrote in this letter, I will be voting the Libertarian ticket without reservation.

As a wavering voter, I ask you to relinquish the restrictive criteria you require for candidates, so that myself and many other voters can hear the various opinions held by qualified candidates for president. For all the talk of the Commission on Presidential Debates' desire to educate voters and draw them into the system you have been unable to do so while maintaining your bipartisan stance. The electoral process needs more voices, and in fact demands it. Recent studies show that 35% of registered voters consider themselves independent and as such can not be adequately represented by the two major parties. This is demonstrated by tuning out the presidential debates in larger numbers every year. In 1980 it is estimated that 60% of the nations households watched the debates, and by 2000 that number dropped to 30%.

Our system, dominated by the two major parties has only attracted half of the people of voting age to even resister to vote, and on election day roughly half of those registered actually come out to vote. Of those that do vote some studies show that only about half of them are actually committed to the candidate they voted for. The other half are voting against a candidate or position. What this boils down to is the fact that 10 to 15% of a nation of 290 million are determining the course of the country, and this can not be healthy for democracy.

I agree that too many candidates on a stage can create too much confusion, and hinder a meaningful debate, but it should be noted that in the 2000 presidential primary debates the republicans had six candidates in their debates. In the 2004 presidential primaries the democrats had nine candidates debate without detriment to their constituents. However I don't propose that any person who decides to run for president should be allowed to debate but there is certainly a more fair and equitable system than your current process. There are many restrictions and hurdles built into our political process that are very effective in weeding out candidates who do not receive sufficient support of the voting public. Beginning with petitioning for ballot access.

In every state in the country a third party candidate has to gather far more petition signatures than does a democrat or republican. As you may already know a third party usually has to collect at least double, and often five times as many signatures as does the major parties. Then they have to survive the common place challenges to their petitions, which means the third party has to try collecting up to double the minimum number of signatures in order to be placed on the ballot. To collect this volume of signatures a given candidate must have a large and committed group of supporters to begin with in order to be successful.

If a candidate endures long enough to get on state ballots sufficient to potentially win the electoral votes needed to win the election, that should be the deciding factor in their eligibility for the debates. By the time a candidate qualifies for 270 electoral votes it should be demonstration enough that they have the organizational staff, the financial means, and the volunteer and popular support to wage a meaningful presidential campaign. It should follow that they are qualified to represent their supporters in meaningful debate.

YOUR NAME,
CITY, STATE

END OF DAY 1 ACTION
Thank you for participating,
Gary Feezel

2004-08-30T16:21:00.000-07:00

Off Topic - Quid Pro Quos

Please indulge me while I thank some friends.

I've never met Michael Badnarik, never even seen him live. A friend described being moved to tears by his speech at the convention in Atlanta so I wandered over to the campaign blog and listened to the audioblogs, and saw a couple video clips there and at some of the supporters sites. Through seeing and watching Mr. Badnarik I became committed not just to a party, but to a candidate. As I saw and heard him more I became active, for the first time in my life. On Saturday I went to LibertarinTV.com and watched their video documentary "An American Revolution" and I was nearly moved to tears. Produced by Walt Thiessen and his crew, he admits it is not Hollywood grade (and he describes the difficulties they encountered on his site) but it is inspiring. The commitment of my vote, my move to activism, all the labor I've spent here has been justified and reaffirmed by watching this video. Want to believe in someone who believes in America and you? Watch this free video. It's available as a slide show or audio only for dial-ups.

I sent a note of appreciation to Walt Thiessen to thank him for making the video and we began a little dialogue. He has promised to use his LibertarianTV contact list as well as his contacts in the Northern Virginia LP to try and rally some more activists for our effort. Thanks Walt. Quid pro quo.

When I was first moved to activism I couldn't find anyone who would assign me to a task. Terrible feeling wanting to do something, anything, and not knowing what to do. So I eventually got hooked up with my friend Christina Tobin working on ballot access against the insidious and evil democrats of Cook County, Illinois. Fighting for Ralph Nader specifically, but you know the importance of ballot access to third parties. We're fortunate Nader can afford to fight, he's helping to tear down walls for all of us. There is a Rock the Vote festival near my home this weekend, and Christina and her Naderite/Greens were invited, she insisted the Libertarians be invited too. We'll be there! Thanks Christina. Quid pro quo.

Without Christina this event may have gone off without our notice. Instead we'll be able to reach out to over 1000 newly registered voters. Wonder how they feel about the debates: )

Gary Feezel

2004-08-29T18:03:00.000-07:00

Sample Letters for Polling Organizations

Aside from the disturbing fact that the head of the Gallup polls is also a consultant to the CPD there are many problems with using polls to determine who gets in the debates. As we all know very few polls have even mentioned Michael Badnarik up to this point of the game. Just like media coverage, being in polls provides the advertising that leads to name recognition, that gets you covered in the media and polls, that leads to name recognition......and around we go. It is our contention that by not covering Michael Badnarik in early presidential polls the major pollsters have demonstrated a bias that should preclude them from participating in the selection of candidates for the debates.

Version 1: This first letter is crafted specifically for Gallup Head/CPD Consultant Frank Newport. E-mail to general contact.

Frank Newport,
Editor in Chief
The Gallup Organization
901 F Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20004

Dear Frank Newport,

As you well know in the next few days the Commission on Presidential Debates will begin to assess national polls as part of their criteria to determine which candidates will be allowed into the first presidential debate. Your dual role of Editor in Chief of Gallup Polls, and consultant to the CPD creates a glaring conflict of interest. Especially since the Gallup organization does not include third party candidates in your polls. This ethical lapse calls into question the impartiality and integrity of every presidential poll conducted by the Gallup organization. Therefore I demand that you recuse yourself and the entire Gallup organization from conducting polls that will be used to qualify participants in the CPD debates.

YOUR NAME,
CITY, STATE

Version 2: This second letter is obviously for any other polling organization you care to contact. You will of course have to add the contact address, and plug in the organization's name where appropriate before mailing. I will come back an post contact addresses later.

Dear So-and-So,

As you may know in the next few days the Commission on Presidential Debates will begin to assess national polls as part of their criteria to determine which candidates will be allowed into the first presidential debate. Your participation would create a glaring conflict of interest. Especially since the (POLLSTER NAME HERE) organization does not include third party candidates in your polls. This ethical lapse calls into question the impartiality and integrity of every presidential poll conducted by the (POLLSTER NAME HERE) organization. Therefore I demand that you recuse yourself and the entire (POLLSTER NAME HERE) organization from conducting polls that will be used to qualify participants in the CPD debates.

YOUR NAME,
CITY, STATE

2004-08-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

Sample Letters for the CPD

Not that I expect the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) to see the light and open the debates just based on our letter writing we still must make the effort. I crafted the following three sample letters specifically for people to copy and paste in e-mails to any and all members of the CPD. Not sure of how to best approach them, other than utter contempt, I wrote each letter in a different style. I plan to send each letter to every board member over the next week or so. You can do the same, select which you like best, or write your own. I welcome critiques so these can be refined or expanded on.

Contact Addresses are on the 8/19/04 post titled "CPD Board Contacts" found below.

NOTE: We ask that if you send a letter via e-mail based on this movement you cc: to DBcontactmade@yahoo.com. We want some way to monitor the volume of contacts made through this movement. Be assured your e-mail address will never be shared with anyone outside this movement.

Letter 1: Ridicule. As long as they mock the politcal process we may as well mock them.

The results of your organizations manipulations of the "debates" over these many years is laughable. America is waking up to the fraud you are perpetrating and tuning out in record numbers. Your mockery of open political debate is a part of the reason that third parties have proliferated and grown in recent years, and I encourage you to continue your ignorant and boorish attempt to control political discourse, as it plays into our hands.

If you do not open your "debates" through realistic criteria to all viable presidential candidates you will only further demonstrate the corrupted nature of your endeavor, and drive more voters to the third parties you are trying to eradicate. The voters of America are fully aware of your ham-handed rigging of the "debates" and the scripted nature of the shallow bipartisan snoozefest you produce.

If you think that anything you are organizing and portraying as "debate" will ever be viewed with the historical reverence of the Lincoln - Douglas debates of 1858, or even the Kennedy - Nixon debate of 1960 you are sadly mistaken. Your commission's silly and foolish formatting has only resulted in further diminishing the audience with every "debate" you put on. In fact according to your own website your commission has never come close to drawing the number of people who crowded around the radio to hear such obscure debates as the Dewey - Stassen debates of 1948 (up to 80 million). Keep up the good work of getting the voice and platforms of the democrats and republicans out to fewer and fewer voters with every election cycle, your efforts provide strength and validity to the third parties.

YOUR NAME,
CITY, STATE

Letter 2: Soul Appeal. Although spirituality is not my strong suit I thought maybe we could reach their human side. Even they must have one.

As the documentation of the Commission on Presidential Debates' blatant bias and defacto bipartisanship, not nonpartisanship, is brought to light and the public's awareness of the Commission's manipulations grows it is time to look within yourself and ask if your complicity and assistance in the hijacking of our political process is good for your soul?

It may come as a surprise to you to learn that you do not speak for everyone, nor do the candidates you promote through the conspiracy you call "candidate selection." It is not up to you individually or the cabal you call a commission to select nor determine who is a viable presidential candidate. That is for the voters to decide. Your chosen mandate is to produce debates between presidential candidates. Your oppression of multitudes of voters with opinions that differ from yours is unconscionable and I am left to wonder how you will be judged in the here after.

As you do ponder your selection of candidates for the presidential debates please determine if your choices are right with your god and your spiritual beliefs. Regardless of your decision you will demonstrate the nature of your character.

YOUR NAME,
CITY, STATE

Letter 3: Statistical Analysis. I got a little windy one this one but I used every statistic I could dig up to show how their debates have been a dismal failure. Don't worry I am not "wavering" as I wrote in this letter, I will be voting the Libertarian ticket without reservation.

As a wavering voter, I ask you to relinquish the restrictive criteria you require for candidates, so that myself and many other voters can hear the various opinions held by qualified candidates for president. For all the talk of the Commission on Presidential Debates’ desire to educate voters and draw them into the system you have been unable to do so while maintaining your bipartisan stance. The electoral process needs more voices, and in fact demands it. Recent studies show that 35% of registered voters consider themselves independent and as such can’t be adequately represented by the two major parties. This is demonstrated by tuning out the presidential debates in larger numbers every year. In 1980 it is estimated that 60% of the nations households watched the debates, and by 2000 that number dropped to 30%.

Our system, dominated by the two major parties has only attracted half of the people of voting age to even resister to vote, and on election day roughly half of those registered actually come out to vote. Of those that do vote some studies show that only about half of them are actually committed to the candidate they voted for. The other half are voting against a candidate or position. What this boils down to is the fact that 10 to 15% of a nation of 290 million are determining the course of the country, and this can not be healthy for democracy.

I agree that too many candidates on a stage can create too much confusion, and hinder a meaningful debate, but it should be noted that in the 2000 presidential primary debates the republicans had six candidates in their debates. In the 2004 presidential primaries the democrats had nine candidates debate without detriment to their constituents. However I don’t propose that any person who decides to run for president should be allowed to debate but there is certainly a more fair and equitable system than your current process. There are many restrictions and hurdles built into our political process that are very effective in weeding out candidates who do not receive sufficient support of the voting public. Beginning with petitioning for ballot access.

In every state in the country a third party candidate has to gather far more petition signatures than does a democrat or republican. As you may already know a third party usually has to collect at least double, and often five times as many signatures as does the major parties. Then they have to survive the common place challenges to their petitions, which means the third party has to try collecting up to double the minimum number of signatures in order to be placed on the ballot. To collect this volume of signatures a given candidate must have a large and committed group of supporters to begin with in order to be successful.

If a candidate endures long enough to get on state ballots sufficient to potentially win the electoral votes needed to win the election, that should be the deciding factor in their eligibility for the debates. By the time a candidate qualifies for 270 electoral votes it should be demonstration enough that they have the organizational staff, the financial means, and the volunteer and popular support to wage a meaningful presidential campaign. It should follow that they are qualified to represent their supporters in meaningful debate.

YOUR NAME,
CITY, STATE

Gary Feezel

2004-08-29T04:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry for falling behind. Hard to squeeze out the time needed for this and still maintain some semblance of a normal life. Makes reading about Michael Badnarik's daily exploits and his dedication all the more amazing. What's he been campaigning for now, about 2 years straight? Has Bush gone more than 2 months without a week at the ranch in Crawford?

Doug the widely recognized guru of Libertarian blogging, and a teammate here has seemed to have gone techno on his own blog. What gives Doug?

Should be a big posting day for me today as I try to bring together a lot of fragmented ideas and info. Watch for more posts.

Gary Feezel

Letters To The Editor

2004-08-26T22:31:00.000-07:00

Letters To The Editor

While at work today I received a call from the Detroit Free Press and apparently they plan on printing my latest letter to the editor sometime this week.

I've written Libertarian themed letters published in various papers regarding the Patriot Act, the economy and the latest being "What Are They Afraid Of?" which outlines the importance to allow Michael Badnarik & other 3rd Party candidates the right to debate this election year.

I will post the letter once its published here and on my own blog. I've sent several to the Detroit Free Press (I assume its the biggest paper in this state) and its cool that they finally are going to publish one, perhaps to shut me up. Much like Andy in the "Shawshank Redemption", this only motivates me to write 2 letters a day now.

If you haven't yet, please take a few moments out of your day and attempt to get your Pro Badnarik/Pro Debates letters published. Its great free publicity.

Jason Gatties

2004-08-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

Not "The" Debate, But "A" Debate is Scheduled

I uncovered this yesterday but kept it under my hat by request of the campaign, now that it's official...

I guess it pays to get out of the house (or off the blog as it were) every once in a while. Earlier today I get an e-mail in response to my posting on Badnarik2004 site in Yahoo! Groups from Donald Meinshausen. He informs me that he has a movement to organize completely independent debates with third party candidates (and Bush and Kerry of course). Apparently this is a top secret operation, because I've been on this project for three weeks now and we've been mentioned on Badnarik's blog, and we've been in touch with the campaign, yet I've never heard about Donald before.

Tonight I'm spying around on the Green website when I come across this....

David Cobb debates During RNC!
David Cobb will be debating Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Michael Badnarik, along with other third-party candidates to be announced. George Bush and John Kerry will have been invited as well-- maybe we'll seem them there!
WHEN: Tuesday August 31st, 7PM WHERE: St. Raphael Church, 502 W.41st St (NYC)

Now I'm not upset, or jealous, but this is the kind of thing we should be shouting from the rafters. This isn't even mentioned on his schedule. As we tout our man for the big debates we should be letting everyone know he's warming up against the other third parties. This is the kind of thing we should exploit to gain exposure. Exposure for the campaign in general, for any debate Mr. Badnarik participates in and for this movement.

Note: After a little research (and much to my embarrassment) I learn that Donald Meinshausen has been with the LP from day one. I should have known, I am humbled.

2004-08-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

Please Forgive Me

I feel like a sick freak. I AM a privacy freak. I throw away nothing with my name on it, I shred all my mail, I keep an unlisted phone number, I go out of my way to make sure nobody gets information about me. During the 2000 elections my local State Rep. left an automated campaign message on my answering machine. I called and asked to be removed from their list. The next night another call. I demanded to be taken off their list. The next two nights I got calls from supporters of his. I then called him at his personal office (a lawyer) and gave him a 15 minute rant on the right to privacy. He in turn introduce the do-not-call list in Illinois (certainly not my intent) which a couple friends now call "Gary's Law."

I must confess. To get supporters for this movement I went back to the Badnarik campaign blog and checked all the posting regarding debates. Then I compiled a list of every name who commented favorably on getting Mr. Badnarik into the debate. Some post their own blogs or websites, so I've been visiting each site to try and find e-mail contacts in order to recruit them to this cause. If there was no links posted I've been trying Google to track these folks down. I feel like a one-man echelon.

Yesterday when I posted to Badnarik2004 in yahoo-groups 10 people replied, 5 of you were on my list, so you saved me the effort, and thus the guilt (and born Irish-Catholic do I have guilt).

Am I wrong to do this? Should I leave private people alone? This cause is important enough I feel I should do it but at the same time I feel like I'm peeking in windows. It just doesn't seem Libertarian. Advice please.

Gary Feezel

2004-08-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

Poll This

It occurred to me that we should know which polls are being used to decide the fate of third party candidates, just so we can look at their objectivity. Looks like the polls that will be used are a complete secret. I can't find any information about this on CPD's site. Even a word search on "poll" won't tell you who was used in 2000. Then things get worse. It turns out that Frank Newport, Editor-in-Chief, of The Gallup Poll is a consultant to the CPD. Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest? I think that Gallup and Mr. Newport should recuse themselves from providing any polling information to the CPD.

If you go to the Gallup site and word search "Badnarik" you get exactly nothing. How can he poll at 15% if the polls won't even say his name. Their site has political coverage and they've done polls, but only mentioning Bush, Kerry and Nader. So let's take a poll.

The results of 5 national polls are used as one of three criteria which determines who gets into the presidential debates. Should polls be a determining factor in who's voice gets heard by the voting public?

_No
_No way
_No way in hell

Contact addresses coming soon.

Gary Feezel

A quick note on the website

2004-08-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

William, and group,

I understand your fixation, William, on a professional website. I think we need one too. I've not heard from the badnarik campaign lately about it. And I'm willing to venture a guess that they ran into a few bugs in their code.

Here's the thing William. It takes loads of time to make a highly professional site. We are talking months. So even if we started now, and I had 3-4 designers working with me, and we could work on it 24/7, it would take at least 2 months to get something really nice. I think that you may not understand what it takes to get a site of the caliber that we want, up.

And what's the point of it? The point of having the site is to get more people to spread the word, a central place for information, and a place where we can point the media to as a point of reference.

If point one is to mobilize troops, then why would any of us try to delay this if we can do it sooner than getting the site up. If you have an opportunity to start mobilizing the troops now, before the sites up, it would be negligent not to do so.

The rest will keep going. But you must know it is a long hard pull. It will not come quickly. Because of time constraints for this goal it is best to coordinate between hitting the streets, using as much campaign resources as we can, and blogging it on our own.

Please have patience William, and the others. As a Senior LP member, whom I respect, once told me (the gist of it at least), life comes before politics.

I will get back to work now.

Michael Christenson
Vice-Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Southwest Michigan
http://lpswmich.org/
Cell: (269)591-0931
Email: m3talsmith@mac.com

Get Badnarik into the debates this year! Check out BADNARIK for more details: http://debatebadnarik.blogspot.com .

m3talsmith on these forums:
http://volconvo.com/
http://uselectionatlas.org/
http://unstableman.blogspot.com/
http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/index.php?boardid=6089 (the Badnarik Campaign Forums)
AIM / Yahoo / MSN: m3talsmith / m3talsmith / m3talsmith@mac.com

2004-08-25T21:13:00.000-07:00

Contact the Competition

They probably won't even acknowledge us but we still need to let the competition know that we are on to them. Be gentle with the third parties, we're all in the same boat. I was going to say hammer Bush and Kerry, but maybe it's better to play the innocent undecided. I think the bidding is up to lifetime tax exemption, a night in the Lincoln bedroom, and two days free use of all Patriot Act authority for any swing voter if you commit to them. I could be wrong about some of this, but I'm sure your vote is worth something to them.

Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.
P.O. Box 10648
Arlington, VA 22210
ph: 703-647-2700
fax: 703-647-2993
e-mail: BushCheney04@GeorgeWBush.com

John Kerry for President, Inc.
P.O. Box 34640
Washington, DC 20043
ph: 202-712-3000
fax: 202-712-3001
e-mail: http://www.johnkerry.com/contact/contact.php

NOTE: Immediately after contacting the Bush or Kerry campaigns please answer your front door, the Secret Service would like to talk to you. Just kidding, a little Patriot Act humor there. Haha, gulp.

On second thought, I really don't think it is neccesary to contact other third party candidates regarding debates. They all want the same thing we do. Unless of course you have connections with an activist group affiliated with them that will pitch in with us. Regardless here are the campaign addresses.

Cobb-LaMarche '04 (Green Party)
P.O. Box 693
Eureka, CA 95502
ph: 646-619-1149
fax: 212-400-7200
e-mail: info@votecobb.org

Nader for President 2004 (Independent/Reform)
P.O. Box 18002
Washington, D.C. 20036
ph: 202-265-4000
fax: N/A
e-mail: http://votenader.org/contact/index.php

Peroutka 2004 (Constitution)
8028 Rithcie Highway, Suite 303
Pasadena, MD 21122
ph: 877-627-2004
fax: 410-766-8592
e-mail: http://p04inquire.giftwrapplus.org/

Gary Feezel

2004-08-25T16:03:00.000-07:00

Is anybody goin' to San Antoine?

Or Phoenix, Arizona?

Just some random humor. How much money are we workin' with here? I got five bucks.

If I had some money I'd pay some yahoo to slap us up a slick blog like this or this here...

http://www.lpdebate.org

or use this....

http://www.debatebadnarik.org

with plans of migrating to lpdebate.org after the election win or lose.

or maybe

http://www.debateblog.com

and make a commercial venture out of it. Plan on making it THE destination portal for all things debate. Maybe have Bill Gates debating Arnold Scwarzenegger and all kinds of debates going on. Make it as common as Google. Someday take the thing public with an IPO stock offering. Make it part of American colloquiallism for people to say, "Did you hear So-and-So was debating old What's-his-name over at The Debate Blog?" It could be bigger than Hardblogger who by the way hides their blog traffic stats from the people and refuses to allow reader comments. We may be bigger than Hardblogger right now for all we know. Could start running ads from candidates who want to challenge other candidates to a blog debate. Might start getting millions of viewers per day. Tired. Also need a "Read More--->" link maker function like we got at MB blog so a lot of this drivel could be hidden back on page two.

dk

2004-08-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

Report by Doug Kenline

Greetings all team members of the Debate Badnarik blog. It is a noble undertaking indeed. Blogging software is the key. Should we use Blogger, or WordPress, or B2 Evo, or something else?

The debates will move into the blogsphere before we know it. If I ran the campaign I'd set up a video blog like the Microsoft Channel 9 blog and have Michael Badnarik do a 5 minute video once every day. Impromptu. Speaking from the heart. Lighting the fires of Liberty.

But I don't run the campaign. And time is running out. I think we should run like the wind up until the election and also have a long term objective in mind for after the election. We will accomplish much between now and November 2. Let's not let that effort be in vain regardless of the outcome.

Amrageddon may come tomorrow and it might be 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30, or 50 years or 100 years down the road. It may never come. I guess none of us know for sure.

So my attitude is to play with a positive mental attitude and play to win every day. In the world that I know, this requires many hours of work at my chosen field of profession. Much time, energy, and effort to win in the game of life that I know.

Now on the grand scale we have things like Presidential elections. And yes, I believe that if Michael Badnarik were to win the election that this would be a better world. And I believe that it could happen.

So that's my two cents worth from a tired man who owes the IRS $95,000 and just got home from a twelve hour day on the telephone turning up broadband circuits for Sprint after recently having my paycheck garnished.

God Bless America.

Doug Kenline

2004-08-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

Does anyone have a Grassroots Campaign Meter?

As I said in the very beginning of this effort we may never win this but it will not be for lack of trying. So as long as we are going to try, shouldn't we have some way of tracking what we tried? I am almost affraid to know the results, affraid to learn that campaign was too small, or our work was too ineffective. But we should know shouldn't we, as part of a learning process or for historical perspective?

My question to you is how can we keep track of the product of this campaign? We could write something into every letter, or try to get feedback from every contact, or have every participant report back exactly what contacts they made. What do you folks think? What can we do to this end? Is it worth bothering with, and how do we collect the information?

Of course seeing Michael Badnarik on that stage with Bush and Kerry (and anyone else) would tell me we did slightly more than we needed to, so then I wouldn't care about what it was that worked. If we can't get him in the debates we'll need to refine the effort.

Gary

2004-08-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

A Report by Gary Feezel

This particular movement began with the impassioned postings of several supporters of Michael Badnarik on his campaign blog. The idea of opening the presidential debates to more voices is not exclusive to Badnarik supporters, and certainly not new to the political scene. Many people have worked for years to open debates, and we have the distinct advantage of being able to use all of their combined experience and research to increase our odds of success. And this year, with the increasing influence of the internet in the political process (think blogs, campaign sites, etc) and the actions of others (lawsuits against the CPD) we have a unique opportunity to make this happen.

I am relatively new to political activism, and have never put together a movement before so I admit I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants on this. However by reading literally hundreds of pages of plans, ideas, experiences, and background on past and current efforts by others, a plan of action began to come together for us. We will have to make a pest of ourselves. We will have to demand, plea, appeal, and harass where appropriate to make our voices heard.

What I am planning is to bombard everyone connected with both CPD and CDC debates, including producers, sponsors, hosts, presenters, moderators and the candidates themselves. Additionally we will reach out to all forms of media, and like-minded groups with e-mail, snail-mail, press releases, letters to the editor, and phone calls, basically any and every form of communication will be used. I would hope to get everyone who joins us to make a minimum of 10 contacts each. We will make it easy for everyone to participate by providing an easy to use list of contacts, and sample letters tailored to the intended recipient.

In addition to the contact addresses already posted to this blog the mother-lode of activist contacts is at ElectionReform.org. Sample letters will be posted here soon.

We have 30-plus days to the first CPD debate, and I think we are progressing well. This blog is plenty sufficient for the time being, to provide communication and running commentary as we've been doing. A website wouldn't do us any good without content, and that is coming together now. I have come to believe that an intense, sustained two week period of pressure will serve us best. The media and the public's attention span can only be held for that long anyhow. Besides when we fire up we will need every moment of our own time to orchestrate this effort.

If we use the rest of this week to build our core group and gather more content, hopefully we'll be ready to move onto the Badnarik campaign site(or that they'll be ready for us) by next Monday, then we go into action. An all out two week campaign as mentioned earlier puts us in mid September which leaves plenty of time for Mr. Badnarik to re-arrange his schedule and get the plane tickets to Miami : )

2004-08-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

Letter to the Editor Campaign

If you don't have a contact list already for all the newspapers in your region (letters to the editor in particular) please develope one ASAP. I can see this as a crucial phase of this movement. Smaller newspapers especially seem to be starved for content, and we can reach out to other open debate minded individuals there if we can get our url printed in LTE's.

I write a letter about once a week that I send to 8 papers in my area. One went out last night and one paper called today, it will run in the next week. That will be 4 published in 5 weeks! As my published letters aren't debate related I will post them to my own blog. Feel free to copy and/or edit them and sign your name for submission to your local papers.

If your paper has a political writer or editor get their address too, we will appeal to them to write on open debates.

Gary

2004-08-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

Debate Sponsor E-mail Contacts

Like some board members of the CPD, direct contact addresses of debate sponsors can be hard to pin down. Especially given that the sponsors are generally giant corporations or well funded foundations, finding the right contact can be difficult at best

It is interesting that some CPD board members have current and/or past connections to debate sponsors. Newton Minow once studied debates produced by the CPD for the 20th Century Fund (now the Century Foundation), in which he concluded everything was rosey. He was named to the Board of the CPD shortly afterward.

These are the sponsors for the 2000 debates since the 2004 sponsors have not been announced as of yet. We must discourage these groups from involving themselves in this fraud called debates again.

The Marjorie Kovler Fund, chaired by Peter B. Kovler, also chair of the Center for National Policy, general contact there is Kevin Lawler (attention Peter B. Kovler)

Anheuser-Busch (general contact)

The Century Foundation (formerly the 20th Century Fund) President, Richard C. Leone (may not work), alternate, Program Officer, Thad Hall

Ford Motor Company Fund, President, Sandra E. Ulsh (general contact)

The Ford Foundation (general contact)

AARP (formerly American Assoc. of Retired Persons) (general contact)

The Knight Foundation (general contact)

US Airways (Consumer Affairs)

3Com (general contact)

Above are the "General Debate Sponsors", the "Internet Sponsors" will be posted later.

Gary L. Feezel

2004-08-23T01:47:00.000-07:00

Report From Doug Kenline

Well I see from an email that Gary Feezel is back. I like working here on the blog better than via email. Blogs are a more powerful means of communication and allow anybody to participate. Blogs build up historical record. Blogs can be referred back to with permalinks. Blogs are better than email.

Doug Kenline

2004-08-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

Gividen: Next Jesse Ventura?

Kenn Gividen may be the next Jesse Ventura. Never mind what the pundits say.

Gividen, the Libertarian candidate for governor of Indiana, points to the former governor of Minnesota as evidence that a third party candidate can beat the odds.

Read here.

Posted by Doug Kenline.

2004-08-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe

"One of the OSCE's closest partners is the United Nations. Co-operation (editor's note: it is not just for style that they said, 'Co-operation' instead of 'cooperation.') was initiated in 1992, when the participating States declared the OSCE (at that time CSCE) to be "a regional arrangement in the sense of Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations".

Why is this important? Because this is the OSCE that is coming to the US to monitor our Presidential Elections this November per the invitation of our US State Department.

Via Jim Capo.

Posted by Doug Kenline.

2004-08-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

Pot-smoking gubernatorial candidates include Republican and Democrat, but not Libertarian

Kenn Gividen, Libertarian candidate for governor, says there is much that sets him aside from his well-heeled contenders.

"I'm the only candidate who opposes property taxation, the new terrain I-69 and advocates education reform," he notes. But there is another issue that places the Libertarian in a class by himself: Gividen claims he has never smoked marijuana.

Read here.

Posted by Doug Kenline.

2004-08-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

Report From Doug Kenline

Thanks for blogging everybody. Now I'm thinking about this domain name.

http://www.lpdebate.org

Our mission could be to bring the debate into the blogosphere. Challenge candidates to debate Libertarian candidates from all over the country. Set up debates here in the blogosphere.

Develop blogs for every Libertarian candidate in the country and eventually a blog for every member of the Libertarian Party.

We would all be linked together by our blogrolls and we could all easily learn about debates that were going on in the Libertarian blogosphere and tune into them with a front row seat at our convenience. No charge.

Doug Kenline

Report From Jason Gatties

2004-08-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

Report From Jason Gatties

I hope everyone is having a nice Friday. I just wanted to hop in here quickly to let everyone know that we (and when I say we, I mean my wife..lol) are working on the first set of educational flyers to pass around town, themed around our "Open Debate" goal. It will include various links and info on how people can get involved.

These flyers will be available for download at LPSWMich.org within the next few days. I think she is going to put them up in 3 formats for download, so you'll have a choice.

In an unrelated manner, Doug mentioned the script on LPSWMich.org and my wife really appreciated the kind words. The news script we use is actually a custom php news posting script my wife created. If you ever have a need for some sort of custom script, email her at cilla@mujaji.net and she might be able to help you out.

Take care and keep fighting the good fight.

2004-08-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

CPD Board Contacts

The following is the contact addresses for chairs and board members of the Commission on Presidential Debates. I'll leave it to you guys as to where and how to best use it. Many of these people are fairly well insulated, in that no direct e-mail addresses can be found. In those cases I have noted who the closest contacts are. Snail mail addresses will be forwarded later.

Co-Chair, Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. partner in the Washington, D.C. law office of Hogan and Hartson LLP. Office contact is Warren Gorrell (attention Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr.)

Co-Chair, Paul G Kirk, Jr. partner in the Washington, D.C. law office of Sullivan & Worcester.

Board Member, Howard Buffett (son of billionaire Warren), general Berkshire Hathaway e-mail (attention Howard Buffett)

Board Member, Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn (R, WA), at her campaign webpage

Board Member, Antonia Hernandez, California Community Foundation President & CEO

Board Member, Caroline Kennedy, daughter of JFK, President of the Kennedy Foundation, at their general contact (attention Caroline Kennedy)

Board Member, Newton Minow, also Board Member, Chicago law office of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP

Board Member, Dorothy Ridings, Past President of LWV, current Council on Foundations President & CEO, at their general contact (attention Dorothy Ridings)

Board Member, H. Patrick Swygert, also President of Howard University

Executive Director, Janet H. Brown, (the only direct contact I've found for the CPD)

Presidents, Ford, Carter, and Clinton are "Honorary Co-Chairs" I'm certain we would never be heard by them, so I didn't seek contacts. Corporate sponsors for the debates coming next. I will post a letter describing what we are confronting on the Debate Badnarik blog immediately.

Gary Feezel

2004-08-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

Report From Doug Kenline

Ok team, I think we're doing great. I added Gary Feezel to the list of team bloggers but I don't know your blog address Gary. Post it here and I'll make a link to it out of your name in the left hand column.

I like using the blog to communicate better than email for many reasons. I say we do all of our conversatin' here at the blog.

Blogger software seems to be acting screwy. Takes forever to get the dern thing to publish.

MoveableType is leading the field I believe in blogging software but they charge for it. I'm more in tune with using free opensource software like b2evolution or WordPress. There is a learning curve with any of them. I'd just as soon become better at opensource. It's the best in my opinion.

Also we need to decide on a domain name if we want to host our own blog. I say we use this one.

http://www.debatebadnarik.org

Or maybe we should go with something that will still be good AFTER the election, maybe something like this.

http://www.debateblog.org

What is happening today with the blogs may be the biggest story of them all. I'm thinking maybe we should think long term. Of course, getting Michael Badnarik into the debates is the main focus right now.

I'm thinking of Howard Dean who continues to be a presence in the blogosphere even after he lost the nomination verses Aaron Russo who has torn down his blog and completely and totally disappeared since losing the nomination.

Is this a two minute blog that will disappear after November 2, or is this a lifetime blog that will continue to grow forever and eventually guarantee that nobody is ever left out of any debate ever again?

This from Instapundit ( 150,000 readers per day )...

To me, that's a bigger deal than the underlying issue or even, in some ways, the election itself. Elections come and go, politicians come and go, and pretty much all of them turn out to be disappointments one way or another. But the "Fourth Estate" is a big part of the unelected Permanent Government that in many ways does more to run the country than the politicians. And it's unravelling before our very eyes, which I think is the biggest story of the election so far.

Read here.

Doug Kenline

UPDATE: I like this template that Jason Gatties did. Needs date and time stamps for every post on front page and also reader comments on front page. I can't tell what kind of blogging software he's using if any.

2004-08-19T04:10:00.000-07:00

A Like-minded Group, Debate This!

I found another group fighting for open debates, looks like they've been at it since the 2000 election cycle. DebateThis! has tons of pertinent information on their site. They also have a petition aimed at TV Networks . I tried to sign that petition last night but it wasn't working. I have emailed them about it, maybe someone else could give it a try. I also asked them how we can work together.

Full day of work today, then I'm off to help Scott Bludorn, for IL State Rep tonight. I probably won't have time to go through e-mail today, back at it Friday night. Until then.......Blog On!

Be Free,
Gary Feezel

2004-08-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

History of the presidential debates

I wanted to cover a little of the more recent history of presidential debates, and how the Commission on Presidential Debates came to be. Just so everyone can understand what we are up against and at risk of sounding overly self-important, or too melodramatic, how crucial the effort to open debates is to democracy.

Since the dawning of the TV age, starting with the infamous Nixon-Kennedy debates in 1960 the debates were sponsored by the major TV networks ABC, CBS and NBC. Beginning in 1976 the presidential debates were organized by the League of Women Voters (LWV), who also conducted the debates in 1980 and again in 1984. While the LWV claimed to be non-partisan they did take a public stand on issues important to them and rated candidates according to their support of the LWV's positions. This created a less than perfect situation since they were biased for or against the candidates the were presenting. In 1987 the writing was on the wall for the LWV's sponsorship as the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) was created by republican and democrat henchmen. A tersely worded October, 1988 press release by the LWV says it all:

"The League of Women Voters is withdrawing its sponsorship of the presidential debates . . . because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter. It has become clear to us that the candidates' organizations aim to add debates to their list of campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity and answers to tough questions. The League has no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public."

What the LWV was alluding with their claim of "hoodwinking" is the fact that while the CPD claims to be non-partisan it was co-chaired by Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. and Paul G. Kirk, Jr. The head of the Republican National Committee and the head of the Democrat National Committee, respectively, at the time of the CPD's creation. These two gentlemen co-chair the CPD, and remain active in their parties politics to this day. The remaining members of the CPD's board of directors reads like a who's who of party politicians and political insiders.

In interviews that are quite telling of the co-chairs intents Mr. Fahrenkopf once stated the CPD "was not likely to look with favor on including third party candidates in the debates" and Mr. Kirk went even further admitting he "personally believed the panel should exclude third party candidates from the debates."

There you have it utter contempt not just for those with hopes of getting our third party candidates in the debates, but contempt for democracy and the entire political process. Please join us in this effort. Only through the action and voices of many will we restore honesty and openness to the presidential debates.

Thank you to FreezerBox, I lifted the LWV quote from their page at http://www.freezerbox.com/archive/2000/11/cpd/ . And thanks to Open Debates, the quotes from Mr. Fahrenkopf and Mr. Kirk, and many more can be found at http://opendebates.org .

Gary Feezel

2004-08-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

Blog Design

I think our website should be designed as a blog. Think blog. Better than website. Website on steroids. Blog. Better than email. Email on steroids. Blog. Think blog.

http://necc.edweblogs.org/2004/

necc is a nice looking blog.....

http://bloghouse.net/

bloghouse will design a blog for us...........

i say we use the domain name of debatebadnarik.org

i think bloghouse did this one.........

http://outsidethebeltway.com/

And of course Jason Gatties' wife did this one.

http://www.mujaji.net/jason/

looks real nice.......

tqhosting will host blog for $8/month...

http://www.tqhosting.com

Posted by Doug Kenline.

New help... - mc

2004-08-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

New Help

Anyone interested in helping post in the comments below please.

I would like name, email, and some form of im please, along with what you're willing to do. Someone will contact you asap.

---
Michael Christenson

2004-08-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

Let the Movement Begin

We need to clearly define why we are undertaking this effort. Everyone on board with this movement so far is a dedicated believer in, and promoter of Michael Badanrik, Libertarian Candidate for President. And as such we want to see him debate the democrat and republican candidates. But our goal goes beyond that, we have all stated that any viable third party candidate should be allowed in the debates, and that can only be good for democracy and our country.

As it stands now the major party candidates are only looking at debates held by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). A serious and austere sounding organization that was conceived and created with the purpose of keeping third parties out of the debates.

The only other organization prepared to undertake the daunting task of putting on debates during this election cycle would be the group called Open Debates http://opendebates.org/ . As there are no guarantees that even they would allow Michael Badnarik, or any other third party candidate currently in the race in their debates there has been some concern about our supporting them. But at this point there is no other option since it would be impossible to put together the funding and make the many arrangements needed to run debates worthy of a presidential campaign in the short time before the election in November.

Therefore we need to put the heat on the CPD, with the longshot hope of them actually allowing third parties into debates they may put on, and at the same time build support for the more likely eventuality of getting the major parties to commit to Open Debates, and being accepted there.

Gary Feezel

Lets Not Forget "Tha Streets"

2004-08-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

First of all its great to see people so dedicated to this cause. We got some great news earlier today in Michigan when we found out that Michael Badnarik & Richard Campagna will appear on the ballots this November. So I guess you can say I feel even more passionate about getting Badnarik on TV debating Kerry & Bush.

Having an online blog & website is an awesome step in the right direction, however, lets not forget what got the Libertarian Party to where it stands today.

In addition to getting as much information out there as possible online, we must also take to the streets and do some grassroots type activism. We need to make "Open Debates" themed flyers to spread around town. We need to continue writing letters to the local media demanding that Michael Badnarik be allowed to debate. We need to talk to friends and co workers to educate them on Libertarian values and why it is important for the American public to actually have a choice this upcoming election. The only way this election will ever be considered "fair and just" is to allow candidates such as Badnarik the opportunity to address the American public in a nationally televised debate.

Keep up the internet activism because its perhaps the most powerful tool our generation has ever seen, but lets not forget what got us to where we are today.

I'm going to kick start the internet campaign tonight. I am a master promoter and visitors will arrive to check out what we are all about here.

Jason Gatties

How's that for prominent? -- mc

2004-08-17T18:21:00.000-07:00

How's that for prominent?! by Michael Christenson

I believe I have restored everything to it's natural state now. We have the comments back, the prominent link to Badnarik's site and blog, and thanks to the LP site we have a very prominent picture of badnarik on top!

Now back to work; there's never an end to it. But something worth having is worth the effort put into it. So we have a heck of a lot more effort to pour out here, to achieve what we all desire; freedom before we grow old and die; and of course Badnarik in office, more realistic debates, et cetera.

2004-08-17T17:13:00.000-07:00

BADNARIK

Because
Any
Debate
Needs
All
Respective
Individuals
Kontributing

2004-08-17T17:11:00.000-07:00

Hello Team!

From William Hand

It is exciting to know that we are getting more people on board and are really starting to get on the ball! I have a feeling that we are going to accomplish some great things, and of course get Michael Badnarik into the debates!

First of all, welcome Jason Gatties! It is great to have you and your wife on board!

Well, it looks like we are going with the name BADNARIK! (For goodness sakes, I can't remember exactly what that acronym stands for, after several hours at work my mind is mush) That issue is settled! :-)

Secondly, it looks like Michael is going to work on a website template for us! That is great, because we need to get this ball rolling as quickly as possible because the debates are not far away! And we need to have something to show the campaign so we can all get accounts with their blog. Here are a few ideas about the site...

1) Lets make sure the site has a huge direct link to the Badnarik Blog. This needs to be in a direct and obvioius place, because in addition to our website we will be posting announcments, activism alerts, and so fourth on their blog. We need a really cool graphic for people to click on to take them to the blog.

2) We need an area (and/or with a seperate page) for who we are or a statement of principles, information on how to contact the debates commission, a frequently asked questions list, press releases, who is Michael Badnarik, and so fourth! Also, I believe that we need a graphic or a map stressing the fact that he is on the ballot NATIONWIDE will be important to get our point across.. maybe... "He's Bad.. He's Nation wide.. He's Michael Badnarik!"

3) The site needs to be super-duper professional. It needs to be something that will attract many people and be on the level with that of Bush and Kerry's site. Of course it does not have to be quite as complex with as many different pages, tabs, and so fourth. But it needs to make people think, "Whoa, why have I not heard of THIS canidate?"

Immediately after we have a website template then we can all work together on filling out the information that needs to be on it. Once it is completed then we need to have a representitive email the Badnarik campaign and ask for accounts to their Blog for our team (or perhaps one BADNARIK account).

Again, I urge all of you to put as much time and effort into this as possible. I understand we are all busy with many other things, but having Liberty in this nation once again is critical. Because if Bush or Kerry is allowed to take charge of our already overgrown and bloated government for another four years we are going to end up with a *police state* in 2008 and we probably won't ever have an election again.

The key to getting a victory this election is getting Badnarik some major media attension and I can't think of anything better than getting him into the debates! Three sessions of debating Bush and Kerry on live TV would boost him like crazy. You see, most people don't even know Libertarians exist, some people know Libertarians exist but don't know hardly anything about the party, and those that do know about the party have not heard enough to be conviced to support us. If we could get votes from all these three groups then we can WIN THIS ELECTION!

We are going to have to get a lot done in a short ammount of time, but we can get this accomplished. Erase all doubt from your mind IMMEDIATELY this very moment. We will get him into the debates, and we are going to utilize every single legal, lawful, and peaceful method to get it accomplished! We will not give up, we will not surrender, and we will not turn back!

It is time for the era of BADNARIK.

Sincerely,
William Hand

2004-08-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

Jason Gatties Here

My name is Jason Gatties, the new chairman of the Libertarian Party of Southwestern Michigan. Thanks to Michael for getting me involved in this. You must be patient as I catch up to speed.

As Michael stated, my wife is a web designer, so could help out with graphics. She's currently working on the LP of SW Michigan website (to be launched soon) and she designed my blog site, which can be seen at http://www.jasongatties.com.

If you need anything, feel free to contact me via email, AIM (jgatties) or during the day I can be reached at my office, phone number 269-927-6837.

I look forward to working with you all.

Jason Gatties

2004-08-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

Let's Begin

Gary Feezel here. I'm knew to blogging, so I'll probably need some guidence to get going. Can we post links on the left or right sides here, or just paste them in comments? As I said by e-mail I've got a bunch, and it would be best if I annotated them, as some are not direct e-mail addresses but lead to the given persons office or assistant. A little help and we can get under way.

Doug if I knew you were going to post that to Badnarik's blog I would have made it better suited for public consumption, although it set off a lot of posts, and I see willing new recruits too.

I'll be refining my notes, and watching here and my e-mail for more from you guys.

Be Free
Gary

2004-08-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

Regarding Blog Banner Design

Thank you very much Michael Christenson. Good work. I'm about to crash out for the night. Hopefully some other team members will have found this by the morning and will stop by and do a little practice blogging with the team to help get us going.

Doug Kenline

Yanking code -- by mc

2004-08-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

Ok I just took my code out so the banner should be back to normal. I'm still searching for an alternative. I'm not sure though why the Title is hacked in two.

2004-08-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Comment By Doug Kenline

code is at haloscan.com.......same username and password as this blog.......thanks........

i was thinking maybe we could all make a h3 size headline to every post that we make to make the blog easier to scan through and look for headlines......

maybe if no relevant headline just use "Comment By Your Name" like i just did here....just an idea to make it easier to scan through the headlines......blog readers like headlines......just like newspaper readers......gotta have headlines to make it easier for reader to scan through the news...........also need reader comments back......

doug kenline

Reader Comments

2004-08-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

Doug,

Could you post the haloscan comments code here; or email it to me. I will try putting it back.

MichaeL Christenson

2004-08-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

Re: We should get together and coordinate this.

that's what we got the blog for now.....take it away....keep up the good work and thanks a million.........needs reader comments......i like haloscan.....already have haloscan account set up with same username and password as this blog.......

doug kenline

2004-08-17T16:05:00.001-07:00

Re: Thank you doug, btw, for thinking of using blogspot for our home on the web, and for getting it setup.

thank you michael for jumping in and taking the bull by the horns.....we need all the help we can get.....thank you very much......and thank you william hand for the great idea..........

need to get the reader comments back......i like haloscan comments better than blogger comments...i had haloscan reader comments on here.....where did they go?

doug kenline

Doug...

2004-08-17T16:05:00.000-07:00

I'll replace all that stuff now. That's part of the problem with 2 of us editing the template at the same time. We should get together and coordinate this.

---
Michael Christenson

2004-08-17T15:59:00.000-07:00

i had reader comments on here but they appear to be gone....the title bar seems to be messed up.....i can still see the blogger navigation bar.....i had my name linked to my blog but that is now gone....i had a michael badnarik sidebar banner at the top of the left hand column, that is now gone.....i had a link to the badnarik blog and the badnarik website....that is now gone.......tired now.......let's keep at it and see what we can do.......thanks everybody at team debate badnarik blog.........

doug kenline

Debate site needs

2004-08-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

I will be working on this site constantly, and you will see a more professional page soon. Thank you doug, btw, for thinking of using blogspot for our home on the web, and for getting it setup.

Ok, site needs. We need a banner desperately. If anyone has any ideas email them to the list. I think that we need to make a thread on the exco board for general discussion, and link to it from the left column of this site. Also it would be good to get an email list going.

Anyways, keep all that in mind. Post here with your ideas. I'm going to start that forum right now.

---
Michael Christenson
m3talsmith@mac.com

Blogger banner gone

2004-08-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've been busy coding for the last hour or so. I've written some code to hide the blogger banner; so no need to write them. Also I've made my name hyperlinked with my email and homepage. If anyone else wants the same done just say so in the comments.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Let's get going on this project.

---
Michael Christenson
m3talsmith@mac.com

2004-08-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

it appears that Michael Christenson has been here although i don't see any commentary from him........the comments seem to have disappeared.....gotta have reader comments.......what's up with that?.....also the link to my blog is gone from the left hand column........yo William Hand.....whatcha think about the new blog idea?...........standing by for commentary from Michael Christenson at this time...........

Doug Kenline

2004-08-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

Greetings Debate Badnarik Blog Team Members

I have made this blog as a place for us to brainstorm our idea of setting up a blog devoted to getting Michael Badnarik into the debates.

I have sent the username and password of this blog to you via email.

Go here to sign in to the blogger control panel. Or click on the "I Power Blogger" button at the bottom of the left hand column.

Use the unsername and password that I sent you by email.

Post any questions you have about using the blog here.

Post your ideas here. We can build up the blogroll and links section and add pictures of all bloggers or whatever we want to to. We may even decide to use some other blogging software and move the blog to some other domain name.

We can get rid of the Blogger Navigation Bar at the top of the blog by sending a request to blogger support to have them do that for us I believe. Go here to ask the Blogger people to remove the nav bar from the top of our blog.

My idea is to move off of the email discussion and begin to work the project here on this blog and keep pushing things forward from here.

Please leave comments and suggestions and be sure to sign your name at the end of your post so we all know who you are.

Doug Kenline
dkenline@hotmail.com