Commission on Presidential Debates
The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) began in 1987 by the
Democratic and Republican parties to establish the way that presidential
election debates are run between candidates for President of the United States.
The Commission is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation as defined by federal US tax laws,[1]
whose debates are sponsored by private contributions from foundations and
corporations.[2]
The CPD sponsors and produces
debates for the United
States presidential and vice presidential
candidates and undertakes research and educational activities relating to the
debates. The organization, which is a nonprofit corporation controlled by the
Democratic and Republican parties, has run each of the presidential debates
held since 1988. The Commission is headed by Frank Fahrenkopf, a former head of
the Republican National Committee, and former White House press secretary
Michael D. McCurry.[3] As of 2014,[4] the Board of directors consists of Howard Graham Buffett, John C. Danforth, Charles Gibson, John
Griffen, Antonia Hernandez, John I. Jenkins, Newton N. Minow, Leon Panetta, Richard D. Parsons, Dorothy Ridings,
Alan K. Simpson, Olympia Snowe, and Shirley M. Tilghman.
Criticism
In 1988, the League of Women Voters withdrew its sponsorship of the presidential
debates after the George H.W. Bush
and Michael Dukakis campaigns secretly agreed to a "memorandum of
understanding" that would decide which candidates could participate in the
debates, which individuals would be panelists (and therefore able to ask
questions), and the height of the podiums. The League rejected the demands and
released a statement saying that they were withdrawing support for the debates
because "the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a
fraud on the American voter."
At a 1987 press conference
announcing the commission's creation, Fahrenkopf said that the commission was
not likely to include third-party candidates in debates, and Paul G. Kirk,
Democratic national chairman, said he personally believed they should be
excluded from the debates.
In 2003, a 501(c)(3) called Open
Debates was formed[10] to advocate debates that included third parties and that
allowed exchanges among the candidates.[11] Criticism by Open Debates of CPD
for the 2012 election include the secret contract between CPD and the Obama and
Romney campaigns (a complaint joined by 17 other organizations including
Judicial Watch)[12] and CPD informing the candidates of the debate topics in
advance.
In 2004, citing the CPD's 32 page
debate contract, Connie Rice on NPR's The Tavis
Smiley Show called the CPD debates "news conferences," and
"a reckless endangerment of democracy."[14] On October 8, 2004, Green
Party candidate David Cobb was arrested in an act of civil disobedience,
breaking a police line while protesting the Commission on Presidential Debates
for excluding third-party candidates from the nationally televised debates in St. Louis, Missouri.
Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik also was arrested in the protest.
In 2008, the Center for Public Integrity labeled the CPD a "secretive
tax-exempt organization." CPI analyzed the 2004 financials of the CPD, and
found that 93 percent of the contributions to the non-profit CPD came from just
six donors, the names of all of which were blacked out on the donor list
provided to the CPI.
In August 2012, an informal group
called Help the Commission on Presidential Debates, as a reaction to the CPD
website having no contact information,[16] offered to print out comments sent
to them and hand-deliver the printouts to CPD.[17] They claim success in
getting the CPD to post an e-mail address,[18][19] but since then attempts to
hand-deliver printed comments have been met with threats of arrest.[20]
Also in August, 2012 a second
informal group called Occupy the CPD was formed[21] and a month later members
visited Romney campaign headquarters in Boston dressed in chicken costumes
carrying signs reading "too chicken to face [Green Party candidate] Jill
Stein in a rematch" and presented a Romney staffer with "The World's
Biggest Chicken Award."[22] Jill Stein had previously debated Mitt Romney
during the 2002 Massachusetts
gubernatorial election[23] after which The Boston Globe declared her "the
only adult in the room."[24][25]
During the last week of September,
2012, three sponsors withdrew their sponsorship of the 2012 debates for not
including third parties: BBH New York, YWCA USA and Philips Electronics.
George H.W. Bush
George
H.W. Bush was the president for the George
H.W. Bush administration, Christopher
Buckley was his speechwriter, and is a member of the Bohemian Club.
Note: Christopher
Buckley was George H.W. Bush’s speechwriter,
a blogger for the Daily Beast, and is
a member of the Bohemian Club.
Tina
Brown is the founder of the Daily
Beast, and a friend of Arianna
Huffington.
Arianna
Huffington is a friend of Tina Brown,
a director at the Center for Public
Integrity, and a friend of Henry A.
Kissinger.
Barbra
Streisand Foundation was a funder for the Center for Public Integrity.
Henry A. Kissinger is a friend of Arianna Huffington, a member of the Bohemian Club, a director at the
American Friends of the Bilderberg (think tank), was a lifetime trustee
at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Walter
L. Cronkite was a member of the Bohemian Club.
George H.W. Bush talks about the New World Order; Walter
Cronkite said he is glad to sit at the Right Hand of Satan
Belizean_Grove
is the equivalent to the male-only social group, the Bohemian Club.
Henrietta
Holsman Fore is a member of the Belizean
Grove, and a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think
tank), the Economic Policy Institute,
Refugees International, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
the Millennium Promise, the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund,
the Urban Institute (think tank),
the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace (think tank), and the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
James S.
Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a member
of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Lester Crown
was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), is a member
of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a VP for the Crown Family Foundation.
R.
Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Newton
N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, the president of the Crown
Family Foundation, the chairman for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and a director at the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Tavis Smiley
show was a Public Broadcasting
Service (PBS) program.
Alan
K. Simpson is a director at the Commission
on Presidential Debates, and a co-chair for the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.
National
Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is a paid for staff by the Economic Policy Institute.
John
C. Danforth is a director at the Commission
on Presidential Debates, and a director at Refugees International.
Antonia Hernandez
is a director at the Commission on
Presidential Debates, and a director at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
John
I. Jenkins is a director at the Commission
on Presidential Debates, and was a director at the Millennium Promise.
Caroline B.
Kennedy was a director at the Commission
on Presidential Debates, and a director at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund.
Howard
G. Buffett is a director at the Commission
on Presidential Debates, and his father is Warren E. Buffett.
Warren E. Buffett
is Howard G. Buffett’s father, a life
trustee at the Urban Institute (think
tank), and an adviser for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank).
Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think
tank) was a funder for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a director
at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think
tank), the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
(think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with
Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population
control by involving the United
States in war)
Chas. W. Freeman
Jr. is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
(think tank), was the National Intelligence Council chairman nominee for
the Barack Obama administration, a U.S. ambassador for Saudi Arabia,
and the president of the Middle East
Policy Council.
Abdallah
Bin Abd Al-Aziz Al Saud is the king of Saudi Arabia,
a benefactor for the Middle East Policy
Council, and his son is Abdulaziz
bin Abdullah.
Abdulaziz
bin Abdullah is Abdallah Bin Abd
Al-Aziz Al Saud’s son, and a trustee at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
Shirley M.
Tilghman is a trustee at the King
Abdullah University of Science and Technology, a trustee at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and a board of director for
the Commission on Presidential Debates.
H. Patrick Swygert
was a director at the Commission on
Presidential Debates, the president of Howard University,
and is an advisory board member for the National
Security Agency (NSA).
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a trustee at Howard University, a trustee at the Institute of International Education, Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, an
honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director
at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), a senior counsel for
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld,
LLP, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ruth
Hinerfeld is a trustee at the Institute
of International Education, and was the president of the League of Women Voters.
Valerie B. Jarrett
is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior
adviser for the Barack Obama
administration, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and was a managing director at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Booz Allen
Hamilton is a contractor for the National
Security Agency (NSA).
Boeing Company
is a contractor for the National
Security Agency (NSA).
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for the National Security Agency (NSA).
H. Patrick Swygert
is an advisory board member for the National
Security Agency (NSA), the president of Howard University,
and was a director at the Commission on
Presidential Debates.
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