The December 12 issue of Madison, Wisconsin’s daily newspaper, the Capital Times, has this article about Cynthia McKinney’s campaign appearances in Wisconsin. Even though she has entered all Green Party presidential primaries and is seeking matching funds, she still hasn’t made a formal announcement.
On the evening of December 13, the New Jersey Assembly passed A4225. This is the National Popular Vote Plan. It will receive a vote in the State Senate on December 17.
Les Francis, who was Deputy Chief of Staff to President Jimmy Carter, has written this op-ed in the December 13 San Jose Mercury News. Francis writes that in 1980, he was so opposed to third party and independent candidates, he worked with the Democratic National Committee to keep independent John B. Anderson off the ballot. He says he has changed his mind and that a mainstream independent presidential candidate would be good for the country.
The Democratic presidential debate held in Des Moines, Iowa, on December 13, was confined to only six candidates. They were Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Obama and Richardson.
The debate sponsor, the Des Moines Register, required candidates to have had a campaign office open in Iowa, prior to October 1, 2007. Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel did not meet that requirement. This is the first Democratic presidential debate this year with fewer than seven participants. No Republican debate this year has had fewer than seven participants either, except for one that had only six (thanks to the commenter below). There have been 22 presidential debates this year for Republicans and Democrats.
In January, the Hawaii Democratic Party State Central Committee will decide whether to file a lawsuit against Hawaii’s open primary. Here is an article from Honolulu’s daily newspaper on the party’s recent internal debate over whether to go ahead with the lawsuit.
