An Alternative Presidential Candidates’ Debate will be held in Nashville from 7 to 9 pm on October 6th,one day prior to the McCain-Obama debate in Nashville. The debate isopen to all third party candidates for President in the United Statesas well as the major party nominees.
The debate isbeing organized by the Coalition for October Debate Alternatives(CODA), the Nashville Peace Coalition, and Vanderbilt Students ofNonviolence. The moderator for the event will be Bruce Barry, aprofessor at the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt. The debatewill be held in room 4309 Stevenson Center, on the campus of VanderbiltUniversity; it is free and open to the public and the news media. Mapsand driving directions can be found on another page.
In a recent release to the press CODA indicated that is wasorganizing the alternative debate because it believed that votersdeserve to hear from all the candidates if they are going to make aninformed choice at the ballot box, ” While we want to hear what themajor party candidates have to say on issues related to the war, healthcare, the economy, gas prices, the future direction of the military,civil liberties and the environment, we do not believe that most issuesof concern to American voters will be touched by theDemocrat-Republican debate. That is why we are organizing analternative debate so that voters in Nashville, Tennessee and beyondmay be informed of all their choices as they participate in America’selectoral process.”
Chris Lugo, one of theorganizers, said that the Democratic and Republican candidates havealso been invited to the event, but have not indicated an interest inattending, “We believe that voters should make a fully informed choiceabout who they vote for and we do not believe this is possible if theyare only hearing from two candidates. We have invited Barack Obama andJohn McCain in the interest of fairness, but we are intending tohighlight this alternative debate as the most egalitarian possibleevent by including all the candidates and promoting this as an event towhich everyone is invited.”
For more information contact:
Chris Lugo 615-593-0304 chris4senate@gmail.com
Elizabeth Barger 931-964-2119 loveliz77@yahoo.com