Debate Pro Junior

[Filomeno Robles]

Forvoters, most of whom will never see a candidate in person, broadcast debates offer the chance to take the measure of the man or woman asking for their vote. Not that it always makes a difference. In 2016, Hillary Clinton was widely judged to have won all her debates against Donald Trump. We see how that worked out.

In any case, the notion that serious political arguments can be solved, or conspiracy theories aimed at undermining scientific reality debunked, in the course of 60- or 90-minute encounters between opponents is ludicrous.

Debating a conspiracist is a one-way ticket to rhetoric hell, as evidenced by the rueful essays written by some who have taken the bait to counter Kennedy directly and ended up bruised by his high-velocity barrage of nonsense.

Preamble: All Capitol Debate Staff, regardless of title and/or experience, are here to: serve the best interests of the student, make it an amazing summer for all participants, show up every day as their best self, and be present to take on any and all responsibilities that create a successful program! All Capitol Debate staff are considered Counselors first and foremost.

Yale, University of Pennsylvania, UCLA, UNC, Villanova, American University, Lawrenceville School, Rider University, Hun School of Princeton, Drew University, University of Washington, Babson College, University of Houston.

Capitol Debate Summer Progras invites recent high school graduates and college students actively involved in public speaking and/or debate activities to join our summer programs as Junior Instructors/Residential Advisors. Hosting programs in 15 cities, we offer two-week sessions from June 8 to August 1, 2024. A great travel opportunity awaits those who can work at least 6 weeks this summer at up to 3 different campuses.

The Junior Instructor/Residential Advisor is key to assisting with and participating in all residential life activities. This includes student engagement, classroom facilitation, judging debates or speeches, tutoring in debate, ensuring safety, and supporting overall program operations and logistics. You'll work directly with management and other Counselors to ensure a smooth program experience, living on campus with the students and summer program staff.

Counselors/junior instructors are often current college students or recent high school graduates with a background in public speaking and debate (including activities like DECA, Model UN, and Mock Trials). Experience working in youth-based programs is a plus. Required attendance at training sessions and planning meetings leading up to our summer program, including an all-staff orientation and training on Day 0. Returning Counselors are eligible for increased responsibilities and compensation. Staff may need to walk long distances under summer conditions and share dorm rooms with fellow counselors of the same gender.

By submitting this form, I agree to receive emails, phone calls and/or text messages from Capitol Debate at the number and email provided above. I understand that my consent is not a condition of purchase.

To be able to participate in the 90-minute debate in Atlanta on June 27, candidates need to meet constitutional requirements to serve as president and to file a formal statement of their candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. In addition to Biden and Trump, independent candidates Kennedy, Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein meet that standard.

But The Washington Post contradicted those claims Wednesday, saying Kennedy is only on the ballot in five states that total 42 electoral votes, based on calls to election officials in the states where the Kennedy campaign says it has already secured access.

The law in virtually every state provides that the nominee of a state-recognized political party will be allowed ballot access without petitioning," a CNN spokesperson told Spectrum News. "As the presumptive nominees of their parties, both Biden and Trump will satisfy this requirement. As an independent candidate, under applicable laws RFK, Jr. currently does not.

In May, the Kennedy-Shanahan campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, saying the Biden and Trump campaigns had colluded with CNN to keep third-party candidates out of the first general-election presidential debate of the season.

The campaign alleged CNN held independent candidates to a different standard to qualify for the debate, violating an FEC requirement for broadcast media outlets to use pre-established and objective criteria to decide which candidates can participate.

Historically, high-profile third-party or independent contenders like Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996 and John Anderson in 1980 made all 51 ballots, and Kennedy seems likely to eventually make the ballot in most places. But in past cycles, questions about ballot access usually had been answered by the time the general election debates rolled around. The unprecedented early date for the first 2024 debate casts doubt on whether Kennedy can attain ballot access in enough states in time to qualify. His campaign says it will have submitted signatures in enough states for 270 electoral votes, but that doesn't mean Kennedy's name will officially be on the ballot in each of those states by then.

Over the next month, Kennedy could qualify for the June 27 debate. That would be a history-making event: Only twice since the dawn of presidential debates in 1960 has a third-party candidate made a general election debate stage. In 1992, Perot participated in all three debates against incumbent President George H.W. Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton. In 1980, Anderson debated Republican Ronald Reagan once without the participation of incumbent President Jimmy Carter, who refused to take part because Anderson had been invited.

The clock struck midnight on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s window to qualify for CNN's June 27 general election debate, and the network formally announced that he won't make the stage. That hour on Thursday marked the deadline to meet CNN's qualification requirements, which included being constitutionally eligible to become president, having at least four qualifying national polls with at least 15 percent support that meet CNN's guidelines and having confirmed ballot access in enough states to potentially win a majority in the Electoral College (270 electoral votes). Kennedy ultimately came up short on both polls and ballot access in his bid to get a spot on the debate stage alongside President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

On the polling front, Kennedy's situation was pretty cut and dried: He had three national polls at 15 percent or better that qualify under CNN's rules, which means he needed one more at that level of support. However, Kennedy likely missed his final shot at a fourth poll when Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research/Fox News released a national survey on Wednesday evening that found him at 10 percent.

Ongoing litigation over Kennedy's ballot status has potentially delayed confirmations in some states, too. For instance, Nevada's secretary of state said the campaign's petitions in the state were likely invalid under state law because they didn't list Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy's vice presidential running mate. While Kennedy's campaign has mounted a lawsuit over the issue, it has also begun efforts to recollect signatures with a new petition form in the meantime.

Derek T. Muller, a professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School who studies election law, told me that the Kennedy campaign's case for collusion may not be particularly strong. Although CNN clearly engaged with the Biden and Trump campaigns as it put together the debate, Muller felt CNN might \"have a good leg to stand on\" because the network adopted qualification criteria similar to what the Commission on Presidential Debates has long used for its debates and planned to use for any it hosted this cycle: a 15 percent polling threshold and minimum ballot access threshold. In theory, CNN could have created criteria that would have been nigh impossible for Kennedy to meet, such as a 30 percent polling threshold, but chose not to. Minor parties and candidates have previously challenged such criteria, only for the courts to consistently uphold the CPD's rules. \"There's pretty robust precedent that at least the things that the CPD has used in the past are acceptable criteria,\" Muller said.

However, Muller said the Kennedy campaign may have a stronger case that CNN has failed to consistently apply its qualification rule regarding ballot access. \"Biden and Trump are not the nominees. They're not on the ballot in any state,\" Muller said. \"So CNN has had to massage that criteria and say, 'Well, they're the presumptive nominees, and we expect they will be on the ballot.'\" That this is the earliest general election debate ever is part of the issue: Although the CPD uses similar criteria, its debates have always come after Labor Day, by which time ballot certification has concluded in all or nearly all states, making it more straightforward to assess ballot access as a criterion.

Meanwhile, Muller noted past ideological opposition among Republican commissioners to FEC intervention in media-run debates. In 2015, a little-known GOP presidential contender named Mark Everson filed an unsuccessful FEC complaint against Fox News over the broadcaster's choice to change its preestablished criteria for qualification to the first Republican primary debate of the 2016 cycle. The newsiest part of the proceedings was a 4-2 FEC vote determining that Fox News's debate rules had not violated the law. But another vote in the proceedings may have particular relevance here: All three GOP commissioners also felt the FEC regulations themselves were invalid and supported a separate motion that said the FEC lacked the power to investigate Fox News (the motion failed 3-3).

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