All too often presidential debates are reduced to glorified news conferences in which the candidates merely recite prepackaged sound bites. This fall, communities across the nation will declare independence from passively watching this take place. We will create real dialogue on issues which truly matter and we will exemplify the just, democratic and sustainable world we want to create.

At each location the candidates will meet, communities have already mobilized to shift the spotlight. On September 30, the Broward Anti-War Coalition [http://www.antiwarbroward.org/] is calling for an anti-war presence outside the debates in Coral Gables, Florida, beginning at 7pm. In early October the St. Louis October 8 Coalition [http://www.restech.wustl.edu/~sforum/stlo8/] will be hosting a week of events to present their vision of reform and will culminate on the 8th with a planned day of concerts, teach-ins, workshops and films before a rally and march to the debate site. In Tempe, Arizona, the October 13 Alliance [http://spidel.net/octoberdebate/index.htm] is organizing a week of events demanding Democracy for a Change and will including forums, panel discussions, trainings, demonstrations, and a march to the debate site on October 13.

The Beyond Voting Campaign [http://www.beyondvoting.org] is calling for our election year debate to expand beyond Democrats versus Republicans to the larger issue of whether the U.S. will be a Democracy or an Empire. We will be helping communities mobilize from the ballot boxes on November 2nd to the streets on November 3rd with a national campaign of mass non-cooperation if Bush is elected, if the elections are canceled, or if there is overt election fraud again. No matter who wins, we will be uniting to open up a new political space to define democracy as grassroots and participatory.

If we want to live in a real democracy voting at the ballot box is not enough! We have to vote with our feet, our hands, our voices and our imaginations every day of the year. What can you organize in your community?
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Beyond Voting Campaign
info-AT-beyondvoting.org