The Nevada State Democratic Party has partnered with Fox News to host the first-ever 2008 Democratic presidential debate on August 14.
For an example of how disprespectful and counterproductive such debates are, consider the September 9, 2003 Democratic debate in Baltimore, Maryland, hosted by Fox News in partnership with the Congressional Black Caucus. Fox News graphics, as well as a banner over the stage, titled the event as the "Democrat Candidate Presidential Debate," clearly used as an an epithet. Fox News then summarized the debate with a story titled, "Democratic Candidates Offer Grim View of America," continuing with such jabs as, "The depiction of the president as the root of all evil began at the top of Tuesday night's debate...." Controversial questions included the accusation that Howard Dean had a racist gun policy by Fox News analyst Juan Williams. There were also multiple interruptions by protesters throughout the debate, leading to four arrests.
Only a productive forum that is fair to all candidates will help Democratic voters choose their candidate for president in 2008. That is why we, the undersigned, strongly urge the Nevada State Democratic Party to partner with a different media organization for this important debate.
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