Description

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Broadcast to tens of millions of Americans, the presidential debates are the Super Bowl of politics. A good performance before the cameras can vault a contender to the front of the pack, while a gaffe spells national embarrassment and can savage a candidacy. The slim margin for error has led the two major parties to seek—and achieve, under the aegis of the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates—tight control through scripting, severe time limits, and the exclusion of third-party candidates. In No Debate, author and lobbyist George Farah argues that these staged recitations make a mockery of free and fair presidential elections.

With urgency and clarity, this book reviews the history of presidential debates, the impact of the debates since the advent of television, the role of the League of Women Voters, the antidemocratic activity of the CPD, and the specific ways that the Republicans and Democrats collude to remove all spontaneity from the debates themselves. The author presents the complete text of a previously unreleased secret document between the Republicans and Democrats that reveals the degree to which the two parties—not the CPD—dictate the terms of the debates. In the final chapter, Farah lays out a compelling strategy for restoring the presidential debates as a nonpartisan, unscripted, public events that help citizens—not corporations or campaign managers—decide who is going to run the White House.

About the Author

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GEORGE FARAH is the founder and executive director of Open Debates, a Washington-based nonprofit committed to reforming the presidential debate process. He is also a student at Harvard Law School. His articles have appeared in Extra! Magazine and The Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as other publications.

Praise For…

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“Farah has produced a useful book, well researched and clearly written … His reporting on the collusion between the commission and the major party campaigns is detailed and persuasive. It's persuasive enough that it should encourage reporters to examine the process, in order to foster a greater public debate about the debates.” –Columbia Journalism Review

“No Debate … exposes just how far the Republicans and Democrats have sold out the American people in suppressing vital issues which need to be examined by the discerning voter. It is shocking but maybe this book will shock citizens into action.” –Paul M. Weyrich, co-founder, Heritage Foundation

“No Debate exposes how behind-the-scenes wheelin' and dealin' inside the Beltway wrecks our most valuable political forums—the presidential debates—turning them into cures for insomnia that prevent the American people from hearing about issues they want to hear about.” –Jim Hightower

“George Farah argues persuasively that the presidential debates are organized almost entirely to serve the interests of the two major party nominees and not the public interest. If you want a behind the scenes look at candidate negotiations, backstage maneuvering, and the machinations involved in dealing with major 3rd party candidates, No Debate is the book for you.” –Nancy M. Neuman, former president of the League of Women Voters

“George Farah examines one of the biggest blasts of arrogance in the history of U.S.—the collusion between the Republicans and Democrats to manipulate the public by manipulating the Presidential debates. Every American citizen, regardless of party affiliation, should rise up against this un-American strategy. It's not just the White House that's at stake, but democracy itself. Read this book, get angry, and rise up.” –Phil Donahue

“At last, a full-scale, documented report on how the Commission on Presidential Debates rigs the process to prevent the public from hearing independent voices not connected with the Republican and Democratic parties.” –Nat Hentoff