Watch the debates

Please watch the debates. They have been scheduled for the following dates:

Friday, September 26th, 9PM Eastern time
Tuesday, October 7th, 9PM Eastern time
Wednesday, October 15th, 9PM Eastern time

No person should decide which candidate to vote for before watching all three debates. The debates are a time when each candidate defends his policy in his own words with no media bias. It is an opportunity for candidates to change peoples' minds. I plan to open my mind to change should a particular candidate give a convincing argument.

That said, the debates are going to suck.

It is arguably true that the Republican and Democratic party have conspired to keep third-party candidates out of the debates, as is noted in a recent issue of The Liberator. The Liberator is run by my favorite party, the Libertarians.

Liberator online vol. 13 num. 15 (scroll down to where it says Phony Presidential "Debates")

This is outrageous. Although I am not idealistic enough to believe that a Libertarian like Bob Barr would win a presidential election, it is detrimental to the debates to eliminate input from third parties. During the 2008 Republican primaries, Ron Paul was not a choice candidate, but his input during debates gave a strong libertarian influence to the national discussion. In the same way, having only two candidates in the presidential debates will limit the scope of the national discussion to two points of view.

If both McCain and Obama disappoint in the upcoming debates, I will be voting for Bob Barr (just for fun).