The questions asked of the candidates were as follows:

1) Proposition 19, to legalize, tax and regulate Cannabis, is a hot-button issue facing California voters this election for many reasons. Do you support or oppose the legalization of Marijuana and why? How do you feel this issue relates to U.S. military presence in Costa Rica, a non-military nation? What could you add to the discussion of our presence in non-military nations?

2) California’s new Top Two primary system, which passed in June of this year, essentially sets up a system of two general elections per season, benefiting the most heavily funded candidates. What is your feeling on a system of proportional representation for Americans and do Third Party and independent candidates have a responsibility to assist each other in being visible to the voting public?

3) Immigration is a huge issue in California. Do you feel there are solutions we haven’t tried, that perhaps, the Top Two parties are unable to consider? Could you share one or two of these ideas?

4) The current political climate is possibly as ugly as it has ever been, on both state and national levels. How do you feel we can steer political discourse back toward civility? The Top Two candidates have bombarded California voters with attack ads and junk mail. What would you say to voters who are fed up with this style of campaigning?

Watch Free & Equal’s fourth Illinois Gubernatorial debate here:

Watch Free & Equal’s Illinois Senatorial Debate here:

Watch Free & Equal’s Connecticut debate here on www.freeandequal.org.

You can watch the video of Free & Equal’s Oct 6 Press Conference, held at the West Steps of the State Capitol in Sacramento, here:

Also speaking were former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson, Yes on 19 Field Coordinator James Rigdon, and Gerald Murray, national youth coordinator for Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla’s campaign in 2010.

Christina spoke about California’s Top Two primary, proportional representation and ballot access. “This is one of those issues where the opinions of the political class diverge from those of average citizens. That’s why the initiative process is so valuable. Electoral reform is the key to ensuring the government acts in the interest of its citizens, rather than wealthy special interests,” said Tobin.

You can watch videos of Christina, Gary Johnson and James Rigdon below. For Gerald Murray’s speech, click here.

Christina Tobin:

Gary Johnson:

James Rigdon:

This debate was covered by dozens of media outlets, including public radio stations WBEZ in Chicago, WSIU in Carbondale, and WILL in Champaign, along with the Chicago Sun-Times, Southtown Star, Huffington Post, Dekalb Daily-Chronicle, Chicagoist and the Chicago Tribune Media Group’s ChicagoNow.

Representatives from the Green, Libertarian, American Independent, Peace & Freedom, Democratic and Republican parties were present. Proposition 14 would effectively deny third parties and independents the right to appear on the general election ballot (it would even prohibit write-ins!).

You can watch the press conference here:

You can download the interview on Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox here.

The Fox News video is below.

Source: Fox News.

MEDIA ADVISORY

Leading Voices for Independent Politics Unite at 7 p.m. CDT – LIVE Video

WHAT

A distinguished group of panelists from across the American political spectrum will gather to discuss electoral reform, the peace movement, and the growing dissatisfaction with both Republicans and Democrats.

America’s two-party system dominates elections to the point where they act as one party. Both major parties support the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while opposition to war and foreign intervention unite people across the political spectrum. The panel will examine how those opposed to war and military intervention can hear from and vote for candidates who share their views in the face of America’s restrictive ballot access laws.

Beginning with a fictional “Mimosa Party” to unite antiwar voters, the panelists will address the dangers of the Top Two Primary initiative on the ballot in California on June 8, 2010 and other ballot access restrictions imposed by the states. Without choices on the ballot in the general election, anti-war candidates will continue to be at a severe disadvantage when challenging pro-war incumbents.

WHEN

Monday, April 26 at 7:00 p.m. CDT

WHERE

Old Madison Room in the Memorial Union, University of Wisconsin at Madison

WHO

Panelists

Cindy Sheehan – American anti-war activist

Christina Tobin – founder and chair of The Free and Equal Elections Foundation, Libertarian candidate for California secretary of state

Theresa Amato – author, founder of the Citizen Advocacy Center

Angela Keaton – development director for Antiwar.com

Ben Manski – executive director of the Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution

Sean Scallon – author, journalist, blogger, and elected official in Pepin, Wisconsin

Moderator

Steve Burns – program director for Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice

Contact:

Sean Haugh
Executive Director, Free and Equal Elections Foundation
(919) 402-3489
sean@freeandequal.org

###

Watch Free & Equal’s second Illinois Gubernatorial Debate here:

Source: CATO Institute

This past Tuesday, Free & Equal Founder and Chair Christina Tobin attended a forum at the CATO Institute in Washington, DC featuring two recently published books on ballot access:

Not Invited to the Party: How the Demopublicans Have Rigged the System and Left Independents Out in the Cold By James Bennett

Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny By Theresa Amato

The forum was the first event the CATO Institute has ever held on ballot access restrictions. C-SPAN taped the event for a later broadcast.

John Samples of the CATO institute mentions Christina around minute 28:45 – 29:15.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THESE BOOKS TODAY!

Not Invited to the Party demonstrates how the dominant political parties–the Democrats and Republicans–have co-opted the system to their advantage.

James Bennett examines the history and array of laws, regulations, subsidies and programs that benefit the two major parties and discourage even the possibility of a serious challenge to the Democrat-Republican duopoly.

Theresa Amato, the campaign manager for Ralph Nader’s 2000 & 2004 Presidential runs, presents a scathing indictment of the current state of ballot access in America in her new book.

Grand Illusion recounts the story of the Democratic Party’s attempt to boot Nader out of the 2004 Presidential election, and offers insight into other recent independent and third party campaigns. Amato also lays out specific reform steps that can be taken to improve the state of ballot access in this country.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THESE BOOKS TODAY!

Video Courtesy of RepublicMedia.TV

Thanks to The Liberty Restoration Project and R3publican for helping with the debate.

Check out the Story from The Southern

The Illinois Gubernatorial Debate was held as part of the Midwest Liberty Fest on October 9th, 2009. Free & Equal Founder and Chair Christina Tobin served as the moderator for the debate.

The following SIX candidates participated in the debate:

Adam Andrzejewski
Republican Party Candidate

Dan Proft
Republican Party Candidate

Randall Stufflebeam
Constitution Party Candidate

Bill “Dock” Walls, III
Democratic Party Candidate

Michael White
Independent Candidate

Rich Whitney
Green Party Candidate

ALL 13 candidates who have announced their intentions of running in the race were invited to participate.

Two candidates, Republicans Bill Brady and Frank Edwards, did not reply despite repeated attempts to contact them.

Other candidates expressed interest, but could not accommodate the debate schedule.

During the 2008 Presidential Election, Free & Equal debuted with a Presidential Debate at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel in Washington, DC on October, 23rd, 2008. Constitution Party Candidate Chuck Baldwin, and Independent Candidate Ralph Nader participated in a spirited contest moderated by award-winning journalist Chris Hedges.

The Free & Equal debate was the ONLY Presidential debate featuring Independent and Third-Party candidates held during the 2008 election to be broadcast to a national audience. The debate was broadcast LIVE on C-SPAN2 in Primetime.

After the success of our Presidential Debate, Free & Equal a Vice-Presidential Debate was Held in Las Vegas, NV on Sunday November 2nd, 2008. Constitution Party Candidate Darrell Castle, Independent Candidate Matt Gonzalez, and Libertarian Candidate Wayne Allyn Root all participated.