People For the American Way today joined with allied groups to deliver more than 170,000 petitions to the Commission on Presidential Debates demanding that the schedule of Presidential debates remain intact.

“I’m thrilled that John McCain has agreed, however reluctantly, to attend tonight’s debate,” said Kathryn Kolbert, president of People For the American Way. “The American people saw through his flimsy excuses and I’m proud that People For members were a part of that. Debates are not a distraction from the business at hand — they’re central to our democratic system. The stakes are higher than ever, which makes it even more important that the American people understand the choice they face.”

People For teamed up with DemandTheDebate08.org, MoveOn, and Credo to gather and deliver the petitions. You can find petition language at http://site.pfaw.org/debate.

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