Libertarian, Green party candidates

to debate in New York on Tuesday

NEW YORK -- Americans who are interested in a real political debate
instead of a canned political convention will get it on Tuesday when the
Libertarian and Green candidates for president square off in New York,
right down the street from the Republican national convention.

"Anyone who's not interested in the Republicans' weeklong yawn-a-thon is
invited to attend a real, no-holds-barred political debate between two
candidates with starkly different political views," said Fred Collins,
manager of the Badnarik for President campaign. "The Libertarians and the
Greens will have the kind of robust political debate that the American
people deserve, but won't get, from the two older parties."

Libertarian Michael Badnarik and Green Party candidate David Cobb have
confirmed that they will attend the event, which will be held at 7pm
Tuesday at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church in Manhattan. The debate will
be moderated by Walt Kane of News 12 New Jersey and Robert Richie of the
Center for Voting and Democracy.


The third-party debate will be dramatically different from the upcoming
Bush-Kerry debates in several respects, Collins said.


* All viable candidates have been invited.


"Because we believe all legitimate, third-party candidates who will be on
the ballot in a significant number of states should be included, we've
invited independent Ralph Nader and Constitution Party candidate Michael
Peroutka as well as George Bush and John Kerry," Collins said. "The fact
is that third-party candidates often air views that the Democratic and
Republican parties don't want the American people to hear, which is why
it's so important to include them."

* Questions from the audience will be permitted.

"Unlike the staged, scripted Bush-Kerry debates, members of the audience
will be allowed to grill the candidates without interference from
screeners or party flacks," Collins said. "Shouldn't anyone who aspires to
be president be able to handle questions from ordinary Americans?"

* The audience will see a clear choice between the candidates.

"Bush and Kerry march in lock-step on so many issues that their so-called
'debate' will be like listening to an echo chamber," Collins said. "Both
favor dramatically expanding the size, power and cost of government,
continuing the war in Iraq and using the September 11 attacks as an excuse
to subvert freedom.

"Badnarik and Cobb, however, will lay out starkly different visions of the
proper role of the federal government, with the Green favoring a mix of
expanded civil liberties and expanded government, and the Libertarian
taking a principled stand in favor of less government across the board.

"That's the debate that the two major parties don't want voters to hear,
and it's why Bush and Kerry will be missing in action on Tuesday."

Now that's a debate!