Commission on Presidential Debates Occupied And Investigated

[allenbutcher@juno.com]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           
September 20, 2000      

CONTACT: Adam Eidinger 202-986-6186 or Daniel Holstein
202-270-8387

Commission on Presidential Debates Occupied And Investigated by the Open
Debate Society

WASHINGTON, DC - Early this morning, members of the Open Debate Society
occupied the offices of Wagner Communications and Brewer Consulting
Group,
the only known address of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD).  
Their aim was to put a face to the name of the CPD, a stealthy private
corporation controlled by the Republican and Democratic parties and
funded
by Anheuser-Busch, 3 Com, and U.S. Airways. Members of the Society came
to
mark the offices of Wagner and Brewer as the location of the CPD and
posted a sign correctly identifying the CPD as the Corporate Puppets'
Debate.

Today's actions are just the beginning of the open-debate movement.  
Rallies are taking place every Thursday in September at 1200 New
Hampshire
Ave at 12:00 noon in Washington, D.C. (the CPD's mailing address).
Tomorrow the New York City offices of Anheuser-Busch at 350 Park Avenue
between 51st & 52nd from 4:30 to 7:30 PM will be targeted by Ralph Nader
supporters.  By the time the debates kick off in Boston, the event will
be
met with thousands of protesters.

While its official-sounding name makes the CPD look like a federal
agency,
it is actually a private corporation with no storefront, office or
physical location.  The CPD's website and literature gives the Wagner and
Brewer firms' address as its own.  After their office occupation, the
Society did a follow-up call to Carl Wagner at Wagner/Brewer.  He told
them that Wagner Communications was sold over a year ago and that the
group no longer exists.

Of course, that morning during the occupation, he and his lackey had also
tried to convince the Society members that they would not find the CPD
within the Wagner/Brewer offices.  That ruse was up when they tripped
over
a box of pamphlets, "Inside Debates," produced by the CPD.

During their occupation of the Wagner/Brewer office, the Society demanded
that the CPD return the debates to the voters by opening the debates to
third party candidates and removing the corporations that have highjacked
democracy from the American people.  Members of the Society, carrying a
boom-box playing Beethoven, unfurled a giant American flag and postered
the office, all the time engaging the two male employees present (the
senior of which they believe to be Mr. Wagner) in a debate over the
debates.  Their slogans included "Open Debate Society Demands Citizen
Voice Not Corporate Choice"  and "60.9% of Likely Voters Want Nader to
Debate." They also highlighted the influence of Anheuser-Busch on the
CPD:  
"CPD: Drunk with Power and Turning our Democracy into a Frat Party,"  
"The People Are Sobering Up and Taking Back the Debates,"  "You've got to
be Drunk to let Budweiser Steal the Debates," and "RNC and DNC Decide Who
Gets Debate? What? Are you Drunk?"

Campaing finance reform advocate Granny D also made an appearance at the
CPD's virtual location in the Wagner/Brewer offices.  She told of her
walk
across the country for campaign finance reform and demanded open debates.

The senior employee, after calling the police, sat down in his office and
answered some of the most poignant arguments raised by the ODS with
misleading information. After being confronted with the commission's
private sponsors and procedures, he mistakenly referred to the groups as
a
"public".  Similarly, after being questioned about the bipartisan nature
of the organization, he defined the commission as "nonpartisan."

Adam Eidinger, an Open Debate Society member who took part in this
morning's occupation, explained his concern over the way the debates are
being run by stating: "We're calling the CPD an insult to American values
of democracy, fair elections, and the right to be informed.  The CPD is
an
illegitimate body, compromised by the fact that it's controlled by the
Democratic and Republican Parties, who have a political interest in
excluding third party candidates, and funded by large corporations like
Anheuser-Busch and U.S. Airways."

======================

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