Democracy Now! interviewed the founder and executive director of Open Debates, George Farah.

Farah: [Y]ou’re not going to see any third party voices in tonight’s debate. The Republican, Democratic parties, who exert near absolute control over these public forums, have determined and made sure that no third party voices are ever seen on the debate stage and can challenge their dominance of our political system.

Read the transcript of the interview or watch the entire show (which includes some very good discussion on the bailout, among other things).  The problems with the CPD are even worse than I thought.

If you really don't like either of the main candidates but you are afraid that a third-party vote would be wasted or worse, help the "other guy", then consider making a VotePact with someone from the other side:

The Problem:

Most voters don’t vote for—often don’t even consider voting for—third parties because they view voting for a third party as helping the establishment party they most dislike. Disenchanted Democrats continue to vote for Democrats because they don’t want Republicans; disenchanted Republicans continue to vote for Republicans because they don’t want Democrats.

VotePact.org—The Solution:

Disenchanted Republicans should pair up with disenchanted Democrats and both vote for third party or independent candidates they more genuinely want. This way they siphon off votes by twos from each of the establishment parties. This liberates the voters to vote their actual preference from among those on the ballot, rather than to just pick the “least bad” of the two majors.

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Here is the inspiring reaction from a young woman who was offered an honor that thousands would have considered a dream-come-true:

I was one of the few Ole Miss students who had a seat waiting for them at the Ford Center during the first presidential debate. That’s right, I was one of the 150 UM students who was allocated a ticket to the debate. There are over 17,700 students that attend Ole Miss and only 150 out of over 17,700 were reserved tickets to the debate. I was given an opportunity of a lifetime and I didn’t go…

So now your probably wondering what the hell I was thinking. Well I will tell you exactly what I was thinking.

I was thinking about the fact that this nation has the largest national debt in the whole world. I was thinking about the fact that over half a million people have died in the Iraq war and that over 4000 of those people are our men and women in uniform. I was thinking of the economic crisis that is taking a toll on our country and the inflation of our dollar. I was thinking about the jeopardy of my civil liberties and how they have been stepped upon.

Barack Obama and John Mccain have both voted on legislation that has helped lead us into the economic crisis we are currently in, and Obama and McCain have both voted on legislation that has denied us certain civil liberties that are protected in the constitution. And Obama and McCain both want to stay in Iraq indefinitely.

Both of these men are two evils and I refuse to have to worry about choosing the lesser of two evils.

Barack Obama and John McCain are not the only candidates on the ballot, however they were the only ones invited to the debate. Every other third party candidate should have been at that debate but they weren’t.

I don't admire Barack Obama or John McCain. These are two men I have no respect for. These men have constantly ignored the true issues facing our nation and both will lead us into an even larger train wreck. Frankly listening to these two men pretend to care about the well being of our nation is pure torture, and that is something I refuse to do upon myself, which is exactly why I refused to go to the debate.

I am one the founding members of the UM Constitutionalists, and we are trying to advocate the None of the Above campaign. To learn more about us here is a video of one of our more recent PR exposures: http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7524909&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

Asma Al-Sherri is a freshman political science major at the University of Mississippi.

If McCain decides he's actually going to bail on the debate, both Bob Barr and Cynthia McKinney have offered to fill his podium. I'm sure Baldwin and Nader would be equally thrilled to have that oppurtunity as well. Here are some very nice quotes from the article:

"Any presidential candidate who is on enough ballots to be elected deserves to participate," McKinney said in a statement released by the Green Party late Wednesday. "We need multi-party presidential debates, and I'm ready to go up against Barack Obama or any other candidate and present my ideas to the American people. I should be included in these debates whether McCain shows up or not,"

and

"It's time that at least one of the two leading presidential candidates show leadership and provide the American public an opportunity to witness an open and fair debate, based upon substance and issues rather than sound bites and rhetoric," Barr said in a statement issued today.

So, come one Obama and the CPD, let the others play too!

Here's a very good and honest answer to the folks how suggest third-party votes are "wasted"

"How can you throw your vote away?" That’s a question most third-party advocates and supporters of independent candidates hear quite often. Some of my friends are asking it of me, and I’m sure many of you are hearing it as well. And it’s a question I have asked of myself, and of others, over the years. This is my answer… (Keep Reading)