National LWV Convention: League Should Host the Candidates!
By a LWVMP Convention Delegate
Sometimes an idea comes along and you have to run with it.
At a Friday afternoon workshop, an attendee asked why the League no longer sponsored a Presidential debate. A LWVUS board member present said it was too expensive, and there was insufficient staff to arrange a debate. The last LWV-moderated Presidential debate was in 1984.
This Q & and A motivated me into calling for formation of an unscheduled caucus immediately after the workshop. I was already working on the LWVMP election integrity resolution. But wasn't it the place of the League to direct the most visible candidates' forum in the nation? I knew a new cause would be time consuming. But enthusiasm for the role of the League overruled practicality.
Saturday morning petitions requesting that the League sponsor a Presidential debate were passed around the convention. Meetings were scheduled at 6:30 am, lunch, and whenever delegates could gather. Our efforts even made National Public Radio, which reported on the petitions.
The pressure was really on now. We needed to continue gathering signatures, write the "Guidance to the Board" statements, discuss strategy, and prepare and duplicate flyers to hold up at the last session on Tuesday. We had over 425 delegates sign the petition. Delegates pledged resources. LWVUS President Mary Wilson accepted the guidance and said she would do everything she could to arrange for a debate.
(From the VOTER Editor: A steering committee was formed to keeps the idea alive. Coincidently the committee includes our delegate and a delegate of the same name. The Massachusetts delegate could take the long view because she worked on the LWV team than planned the last League-sponsored debate.
