Refusing to let the Republican and Democratic campaigns dictate the terms of the 1988 debates, the League of Women Voters felt compelled to cease cooperating with the Commission on Presidential Debates in presenting that year’s debates. The CPD has maintained complete control ever since. The League explained its decision in an Oct. 3, 1988 news release:
The League of Women Voters is withdrawing its sponsorship of the presidential debates . . . because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter. It has become clear to us that the candidates’ organizations aim to add debates to their list of campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity and answers to tough questions. The League has no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public.
