Next Presidential Debate Will Include Internet Input

The Open Debate Coalition said that ABC and CNN have agreed to consider the top questions submitted to its PresidentialOpenQuestions.com for the Oct 9 presidential town hall debate at Washington University in St. Louis (MO), the second of three scheduled presidential debates. ABC's Martha Raddatz and CNN's Anderson Cooper are co-moderating the town hall. The coalition said that the agreement came after discussions with ABC and CNN debate producers. The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is requiring moderators to ask questions based on input from the Internet.

"The commission was watching closely as the Open Debate Coalition tested out their innovative bottom-up question submission and voting platform in the primaries this year, and we were impressed with the results,” said Mike McCurry, co-chair of the CPD. “2016's presidential debate moderators will have a rich pool of voter-submitted questions they can draw on that carry greater weight because they are backed by votes from the American people." The CPD is also teaming with Twitter to boost social media involvement around the debates. Coalition members include Americans for Tax Reform, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, FreedomWorks, NARAL, the National Organization for Women, Color Of Change, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.