PRESS RELEASE from National Libertarian Party
May 24,
2008
Seven candidates qualify for presidential debate
Denver, CO - Half of the
candidates vying for the Libertarian Party's nomination for president
have qualified to participate in tonight's presidential debate at the
2008 Libertarian National Convention.
Since the beginning of the convention on May 22, the 12 presidential
candidates who made the trip to Denver for the National Convention have
been petitioning Libertarian delegates for their support in the form of
delegate tokens, which go towards qualifying candidates for certain
events at the national convention. Candidates must collect 30
tokens in order to qualify for a 16-minute nominating speech to be
given on Sunday before the voting begins. For the presidential
debate, candidates had to collect 10 percent of the delegate tokens
available by Saturday morning. That number was 57.
The candidates who qualified for Saturday's debate are as follows:
Bob Barr (94 tokens)
Wayne Allyn Root (94 tokens)
Mary Ruwart (94 tokens)
Mike Gravel (67 tokens)
Mike Jingozian (63 tokens)
George Phillies (62 tokens)
Steve Kubby (60 tokens)
"We're very excited to have a healthy number of candidates involved in
tonight's presidential debate," says Libertarian Party National Media
Coordinator Andrew Davis. "The competition that it will bring will only
improve the political discourse at our convention. Republicans
and Democrats could learn a thing or two about the inclusion of
multiple voices in presidential debates, which ultimately is better for
the nomination process and helps delegates choose the best candidate
for the party."
The debate will take place tonight at 7:00 PM (MST), and will be
moderated by Fox News contributor James Pinkerton. The debate is
scheduled to be broadcast live by C-SPAN.
As of noon on Saturday, more than 620 delegates had registered for the
convention.
A nominee will be selected by delegates on Sunday afternoon.
The Libertarian Party is America's third largest political party,
founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political
parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party
by visiting www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for
smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.
For more information on the convention, or to arrange a media
interview, please call Andrew Davis at (202) 333-0008 during normal
business hours, or at (202) 731-0002 during any other time.