PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE TO BE HELD SUNDAY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
The Free and Equal Elections Coalition (FREE) and the Columbia Political Union are pleased to announce that a Presidential debate will be held this coming Sunday, October 19th, 2008, on the campus of Columbia University.
ALL SIX of the Presidential candidates who appear on enough state ballots to acquire the 270 Electoral Votes needed to become President are invited. They are as follows (listed in alphabetical order by affiliation):
Constitution Party Candidate: Chuck Baldwin
Democratic Party Candidate: Barack Obama
Green Party Candidate: Cynthia McKinney
Independent Candidate: Ralph Nader
Libertarian Party Candidate: Bob Barr
Republican Party Can John McCain
The Columbia Political Union will present the debate from 8:00pm to 10:00pm in the Altschul Auditorium, located at 417 International Affairs Building. The debate will be moderated by Pacifica Radio's Amy Goodman, the host of "Democracy Now!". CSPAN will cover the debate, and live radio broadcasts are expected.
"The Columbia Political Union is committed to energizing political discourse on Columbia's campus," said Allon Brann, Columbia Political Union Publisher. "As a non-partisan organization, we work to provide students with opportunities to encounter and engage with political ideas across a wide ideological spectrum, and on a wide range of issues."
"It is with these goals in mind that we have organized this Presidential Debate: to give all candidates-- either within or outside of the political "mainstream"-- the opportunity to speak directly to students about their goals on the issues they deem critical for this country."
"We have invited all eligible candidates, and it is our sincere hope that all will participate, to ensure the substance and rigor of the dialogue which we believe is crucial at this time."
Certified letters officially inviting each candidate have been sent to the respective campaigns.
The Free and Equal Elections Coalition and the Columbia Political Union await the response from the candidates. All candidates' supporters are encouraged to contact the Presidential campaigns and urge them to attend.
The Columbia Political Union seeks to enhance involvement in the political process, domestic and international, and draw every member of the campus community into an ongoing discussion of political ideas.
FREE is a coalition of political parties, independent citizens and civic organizations formed to promote free and equal elections in the United States.
http://www.freeandequal.org/events.php?id=7
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During the primary, some wondered if the Latino community's preference for Hillary Clinton was somehow a response to Obama's race. You found that a majority actually thinks race will either help him or not be an issue at all. Where did the original misconception come from?
I think it's a reflection of what's happened in California and other places like California where there's been some competition in politics for resources for different communities. As a result, there's been some conflict between those communities. We already had a sense in the primaries that race was not important. Among Democratic voters, it appeared that when asked, "Was race important in determining your vote in the primaries," it looked like there was virtually no difference in those people that said, "Yes, race is important," or "No, race is not important," and who they voted for in the primary. In fact, Hillary Clinton won both of those groups. That suggests that race didn't matter. Our results only confirm that.
I did notice that when the same question was asked about McCain, the results were reversed. What's going on there?
This was a surprise. It's the opposite of what everyone was talking about, and it looks like race appears to be more of an issue in determining how Latinos will vote for John McCain than for Barack Obama. Twenty-four percent of Hispanic registered voters say McCain's race will impact how they vote. Only 11 percent said that of Obama. McCain's number is more than double, but both are small numbers.
We've heard for years that this sleeping giant known as the Latino voting bloc will reshape the presidential election as we know it. What do you think? Are we actually going to see that happen this time around?
There's definitely a lot of interest by Latinos to participate in this election. So I think that there's every likelihood that this year is the year we'll see a large surge in Latino voter participation. But there are also some mixed possibilities in the sense that California and Texas, the two biggest Latino states, are probably not going to be battleground states. So what's that going to mean for voter turnout in those states? I do think in key battleground states Latinos will absolutely play a role, particularly in a place like New Mexico where they make up 32 percent of the eligible electorate.
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