Open the Debates

Ralph Nader, Matt Gonzalez, Val Kilmer, Sean Penn, Cindy Sheehan, Tom Morello, Jello Biafra, Nellie McKay, and Ike Reilly will all appear at the Nader/Gonzalez "Open the Debates" Super Rally August 27 at 6 p.m. at the University of Denver Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado.

"Our focus at the Denver Super Rally will be to expand the debates beyond just two parties," said Nader. "It's an issue of central concern to many Americans and extends far beyond any one candidate. It is a first amendment matter of speech, petition and assembly during a Presidential election for both the candidates and the voters."

The Denver Super Rally is being held to coincide with the Democratic National Convention. A second Super Rally is planned for Minneapolis on September 4th at Orchestra Hall during the week of the Republican National Convention.

Nader/Gonzalez is on track to be on the ballot in 45 states - the campaign was on only 34 in 2004 - and the Nader/Gonzalez ticket is at 6 percent in the latest CNN poll.

The Super Rallies will be part of an outpouring of protest in Denver and Minneapolis against the two corporate-controlled parties and their policies of perpetual militarism and war, at the expense of the necessities here at home. In recent months, Nader/Gonzalez has been campaigning across the country to open up the Presidential debates.

"If tens of millions of Americans could hear the Nader/Gonzalez message through the Presidential debates, it would be a three-way race," Nader said.

During his 2000 campaign, Ralph Nader drew sellout crowds to Super Rallies in arenas from Portland's Memorial Coliseum to New York's Madison Square Garden. After the election, PBS NewsHour's Mark Shields called the Nader Super Rallies "the most exciting political development of the campaign year."

"My apology to Ralph Nader for not demanding that he be included in the debates," Shields said.

At the Denver rally, actor and activist Sean Penn will offer his own comments on the state of the debates. "I met with Sean Penn, and we talked at length," Nader said. "He was very clear that he is not currently planning to endorse any candidate in the general election, but that he has serious concerns about the state of Presidential debates. He did support Kucinich in the primaries and saw how Dennis was excluded from MSNBC debates."

Tickets to the Nader/Gonzalez Open the Debates Super Rally are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Go to www.votenader.org/denver for more event details.

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