The CPD, by contrast, allows the major party candidates to secretly and unilaterally determine every detail of the presidential debates, at the expense of voter education.

Every four years, the CPD proposes a debate schedule and publishes candidate selection criteria. Questions concerning third-party participation and debate formats, however, are ultimately resolved in closed-door sessions between Republican and Democratic negotiators, who submit Memoranda of Understanding to waiting CPD officials. The CPD gladly implements the agreement and suffers the ensuing public criticism to shield the major party candidates. Frank Donatelli, senior advisor to the Bob Dole presidential campaign, said, "The commission throws the party, the commission gets the food, hires the band, but as to who shows up, what the time is and what the dress is, those are the candidates' decisions."

Each campaign employs seasoned teams to handle debate negotiations. The list of negotiators -- from Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor to DNC Chairman Ronald Brown to television producer Harry Thomason to Congressman Vin Weber to Labor Secretary Alexis Herman to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld - reveals the gravity campaigns attach to debate negotiations, and understandably so. Every campaign that has "won" the debate negotiations has gone on to win the election.

These Republican and Democratic negotiators have very significant ties to the CPD. Pamela Harriman was a CPD director when she became the chairman of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. Vernon Jordan was a CPD director before becoming Clinton's debate negotiator in 1996 and Kerry's lead debate negotiator in 2004. Fahrenkopf appointed Fred Malek deputy chairman of the Republican Party before Malek became President Bush's negotiator in 1992. Scott Reed, Bob Dole's campaign manager, worked directly for Frank Fahrenkopf, his friend and mentor. David Norcross was the vice-chairman of the CPD before becoming Dole's debate negotiator in 1996. Richard Moe, then vice-chairman of the CPD, even temporarily entered negotiations on behalf of Dukakis in 1988.

Under CPD sponsorship, secretly negotiated Memoranda of Understanding have dramatically increased in size and depth. There were no Memoranda of Understanding in 1976 and 1980. In 1984, the League of Women Voters and the major party campaigns collectively negotiated a three-page Memorandum of Understanding. In 1988, Bush and Dukakis surreptitiously wrote up a 16-page Memorandum of Understanding - the first time a debate sponsor had been excluded from the negotiations. In 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004, the Memoranda of Understanding, which were all clandestinely written without any input from the CPD, ran at least 20 pages long.

Since 1992, Memoranda of Understanding have been remarkably similar, all addressing in like fashion: participation, format, staging details, podiums, audience placement, selection of moderators and panelists, dressing rooms, press seating, restrictions on camera shots, division of tickets, time limits on responses, opening and closing statements, role of the moderator, press passes, and even coin tosses. In fact, entire paragraphs, word for word, are included in the agreements year after year, which is why we end up with the same charade year after year.

The 7 Major Problems with the CPD
The CPD was created by the major parties to strengthen the major parties.
The CPD is primarily financed by multinational corporations.
The CPD awards the candidates absolute control over the debate process.
The CPD excludes popular candidates
The CPD employs uninspiring formats.
The CPD shields the major party candidates from public accountability.
The CPD violates FEC and IRS regulations.