Will it happen? Nader (along with all the other third party candidates) has clearly had difficulties in past years trying to participate in any sort of public debate or discussion with either of the big party candidates, let alone participate in the big televised GE debates in the fall.However, Obama has recently said he's open to having "a debate, an argument with the Republican Party or any of my opponents". From an interview with Tim Russert on Meet the Press, Saturday, May 4:
"So I love this country. It is what I have been fighting for, a--that America lives up to its values and its ideals... And what this campaign's about, what I think this moment is about in America is whether or not we are going to fight for those ideals that make this country great, and, and if we miss that opportunity, then I think we will be doing a disservice to future generations. So I'm happy to have a debate, an argument with the Republican Party or any of my opponents about what this country means, what makes it great."The Nader campaign has already jumped on this statement and asked for Obama to schedule a public debate of some sort with them sometime in the near future. They even suggested something reminiscent of the famous Lincoln/Douglas debates of 150 years ago, to honor Obama and his home state of Illinois.
Words do mean something, as Barack has rightly said in the past, so let's hope that he keeps his word here and is willing to engage with third party candidates like Nader. Now that would be a real sign of hope!
I have my doubts though.
2 comments:
wouldn't it be cool if they debated?!
It would be very cool.
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