Sen. Mitt Romney.Photo: Rick Bowmer/AP/Shutterstock
The Republican Party has informed the Committee on Presidential Debates that the party and its voters have “lost faith” in the organization that has coordinated debates for more than 30 years.
In her letter, McDaniel outlines aslew of reformsand says the debate committee “appears intent on stonewalling” those changes, which she believes are necessary to “restore its credibility with the Republican Party as a fair and nonpartisan actor.”
She indicated the RNC “will initiate the process of amending” party rules “to prohibit future Republican nominees from participating in CPD-sponsored debates.”
“The American people want to see candidates for president debating issues of consequence to them, and it provides a service to the country and to the people, to hear the prospective candidates of the two major parties duke it out,” RomneytoldInsiderThursday.
Discussions between Republicans and the debates committee began in June, according to McDaniel, who listed what she called “failures” in her letter.
Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Bloomberg via Getty Images
They include holding the first debate after early voting has begun, changing previously agreed-upon formats and conditions “without even notifying the candidates” in some cases, selecting a moderator who worked for a Democrat nominee and board members “publicly disparaging” a GOP candidate.
“We take the R.N.C.’s observations and suggestions seriously and, as we have said previously, we will give them careful consideration,” the commission told the RNC in a December letter,according toThe New York Times. “In furtherance of our position as a nonpartisan, neutral body, which neither favors nor disfavors any party or candidate, we do not negotiate the terms or conditions of our operations with anyone.”
McDaniel outlines “much-needed” reforms she says must be made “to have any credibility with the Republican Party and its 74 million voters moving forward.”
Morry Gash-Pool/Getty
Those include term limits for the committee’s board of directors, committing to hold at least one debate before early voting begins, adding a code of conduct for the committee’s officers, directors and staff that prohibits partisan activity related to an election and public statements in support or opposition to either party’s nominees, “meaningful consequences for violations” of those proposed rules, establishing “transparent criteria for selecting debate moderators that would disqualify individuals from consideration who have apparent conflicts of interest,” and regulations for debate moderators on how they interact with candidates and “meaningful penalties for violations.”
McDaniel said that “it is too late” for reforms to be implemented in time for the 2024 election.
Nick Hagen for The Washington Post via Getty Images
The RNC, she wrote, “cannot simply ‘wait and see,’ as the CPD seems to suggest, but must act now. To do otherwise would forestall any meaningful reform and conveniently leave the CPD unaccountable for another election cycle.”
The RNC will vote on the new rule to prohibit its candidates from participating in the commission’s debates at a meeting in Salt Lake City next month, theTimesreports. The commission responded to the threat in a statement to theTimes, saying it “deals directly with candidates for President and Vice President who qualify for participation,” and added that its plans for the 2024 debates “will be based on fairness, neutrality and a firm commitment to help the American public learn about the candidates and the issues.”
Aaron Parsley
source: people.com
