In an article by Hadas Gold published by POLITICO earlier today titled “Clinton-Trump debate sites plan for a third podium” the venues that will host the presidential (and presumably the one vice-presidential debate) are, “drawing up plans for a three-person forum. . . .”
Those sites are: 26 September, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY; 4 October, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; and 9 October, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV. The Vice Presidential debate is scheduled for 19 October, Longwood University, Farmville, VA.
The POLITICO article continues,
“The directive comes from producers working for the Commission on Presidential Debates and it’s meant, they say, to force the university hosts to be prepared and not as a reflection of the state of the race. But it could give supporters of Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein hope as they push an alternative to the historically unpopular major party nominees. “With [former Gov.] Gary Johnson polling in some places more than double digits, they might have, some of our production people may have said, ‘Just in case, you need to plan out what that might look like,’” Commission on Presidential Debates co-chair and former Bill Clinton White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry told POLITICO. “We won’t know the number of invitations we extend until mid-September.”
The entire article can be read HERE.
(Ed NOTE: It is interesting to note that, while the article mentions only a “THIRD” podium, the URL for this story includes BOTH Governor Johnson and Dr. Stein — www.politico.com/story/2016/08/debates-clinton-trump-johnson-stein-226806.)
I almost hate to say this, but having Johnson and Weld in the debates with the major party candidates is not really a good thing, because they are just flat out not very good in a debate, and they do not represent a solid libertarian ideology.
I would normally be excited at the prospect of having Libertarian Party candidates in the debates against the D’s and R’s, but I am not so excited about it when there is a good chance that the Libertarian Party candidates will be so weak and do such a poor job at presenting and defending our ideology, and may in fact misrepresent our ideology, therefore making us look bad on national television, that we are probably better off if they do not get in the debates.
I keep hearing this 13% number from Johnson, and his fan base seems to be so certain he will make the cut, but does this mean that the CPD looks only at the highest individual poll, not on the aggregate polling? According to Wiki, Johnson’s aggregate polling is between 6.9% and 9.4%:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_opinion_polling_for_the_United_States_presidential_election,_2016
If Trump dropped out before the election, he would forever go down in disgrace. It’s better to lose with dignity than quit the fight midway. I’m also not convinced Trump is going to lose – he’s attracting enormous crowds, and I no longer have any doubts that Trump is sincere about what he’s doing and not controlled opposition. The media and establishment have never been so opposed to a major party nominee in recent memory; their last ditch desperation move in the form of the Evan McMullin candidacy clearly shows this.
“With [former Gov.] Gary Johnson polling in some places more than double digits …”
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More than double digits would be triple digits.
Congratulaations to Gary Johnson for hitting 100% in the polls.
Is it also possible the Better for America guy will somehow start being included in polls and be the 3rd?
also, the quote from the CPD was more along the lines of “show us what 3 podiums would look like”
I wondered about the three podiums, also, and the mention of both Dr. Stein and Johnson. Is it possible someone thinks Trump will drop out?
Hope to see four podiums up on the stage! (Unlikely, But if there was a year for it…)
I use it in the sense of “advise or urge (someone) earnestly.”
In retrospect “urge” or “advise” would have been better verbs.
Is “admonished” the right word? They were advised to prepare for something that might happen, but how were they “admonished?”
Hofstra! My backyard!
Seems like the commission’s rules are not set in stone . . . I wonder how Generalissimo Trump and Mrs. Clinton would respond if Gov. Johnson was invited but was just a bit short of the 15%