U.S. presidential election debates, 2004

The 2004 United States Presidential Election Debates were sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) and concluded October 13, nearly three weeks before election scheduled for November 2, 2004.

Third-party candidate debates

• January 29 — Former Green Party presidential nomination candidate and current independent vice-presidential candidate Peter Camejo debated Normon Solomon at the Crest Theatre, in downtown Sacramento, regarding what direction the Green Party should take in 2004. Camejo supported Ralph Nader, even as an independent candidate, and hoped that Nader could be persuaded to run with the Green Party. Solomon said that Nader should not run, and that the Greens should work to defeat George W. Bush (Republican). The debate was a benefit for listener-sponsored KVMR radio.
• August 31 — Michael Badnarik (Libertarian) and David Cobb (Green) debated in New York City. George W. Bush (Republican), John Kerry (Democrat), and Ralph Nader (independent) were invited to debate, but none of them accepted. The debate was moderated by Rob Richie, Executive Director of the Center for Voting and Democracy, and Walter Kane, a reporter for Channel 12 News. C-SPAN televised the debate on September 6.
• September 30 — Michael Badnarik (Libertarian) and David Cobb (Green) debated at 5 pm in Miami, across the street from the Bush-Kerry debate, which began at 9 p.m. Unlike Bush and Kerry, Badnarik and Cobb took unscripted questions from the audience and from correspondents. The event was carried live by Pacifica Radio, and broadcast later by PBS Television.
• October 6 — Michael Badnarik (Libertarian), Walt Brown (Socialist), David Cobb (Green), and Michael Peroutka (Constitution) debated at 8 p.m. at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The format of this event was similar to that of the September 30th debate: opening statements, questions from the audience, and closing statements. However, the debate was slightly shorter than the prior two third-party debates, at about 80 minutes total. Time was split between four candidates rather than two, and most of the questions came from Cornell undergraduate and graduate students.