Opening statements, ask 3 questions to each other each (total of 12 possible questions if Delmond participates), limit of 500 words for answer, 250 for rebuttal, 150 for final rebuttal. Then closing statements. Opening statements are due by tomorrow at midnight for participation.

eg:

Carpenter question
Ehrisman Answer (500 words)
Carpenter response (250)
Andrews response (250)
Ehrismas rebuttal (150)

Thank you, and thank you ladies and gentlemen for attending. My name is Colin Carpenter, and I'm running for President.

I'm running for President for a few reasons, but mainly because I saw President Jackson squander three years while we have a massive deficit, reform needed in education, health care, foreign policy and a broken electoral system that saw Phil Jackson elected with a second place finish. For three years Jackson has been President, but he has lacked the political courage to start the real reform that we need.

I don't just blame him though, I blame his party. For too long both the GOP and the Democrats have been married to power, to special interests, and to the system that any attempt to change it is met with overwhelming opposition. That is why it is so liberating to be a Progressive Conservative.

As a Progressive Conservative I have only one special interest: The People. If elected, it won't be because I'll have the most money, or the most endorsements, but because I have the courage, the will and the determination to change our country for the better.

So how do we do this? Well, first we lay a foundation. A foundation that rests principly on smart management of government and fiscal responsibility. In a Carpenter administration, the budget will be balanced by the end of the first term.

We Progressive Conservatives are tired of the shell games played in Washington and the little here little there mentality of Phil Jackson. We will balance the budget and we will stop credit card spending and say no to special interests!

And if the special interests don't like that? I say here's a ticket and here's the door so get the heck out of Washington!

As President I will govern as I do in Delaware, with realism, pragmatism and common sense. I call my campaign the Common Sense Revolution, because ultimately we need common sense in a government that's lost its way. But I'm here this evening to tell you that there is a better and brighter way than what is offered by the Democrats and Republicans. That way is Colin Carpenter and the Progressive Conservative Party.

We are the party to build America's future, right from the foundation.

Thank you

Thank you everyone. Thank you. I first off would like to extend my thanks to Governor Carpenter for accepting my invitation to debate the things that matter to our future and for progress for the United States.

Ladies and Gentleman, this is why I am here; to debate the things that matter. You see, I am not a politician and this is actually my first ever political debate, so I'm sorry if I don't speak in Washington Code to confuse you.

My name is Chris Ehrisman. I grew up in a middle class community just outside of Detroit. I was the first person in my family to graduate college. I developed and grew a strong and successful automotive business close to my home.

For years, I have talked to Americans, through my business, who have a life story just like my own. I have only been in this campaign less then a month, but already I have had the privilege of meeting many more Americans with diverse backgrounds and rich life stories that convince me, that a bold and progressive agenda must be presented in order to deliver progress for America. We must say no to the status-quo.

That is what my campaign is about. Progress. My campaign is also about choice.

The choices of whether we should raise the minimum wage so we can positively impact the lives of 23 million Americans.

The choices of whether we should declare that we need to reign in our absurd budget defecits so we can build a positive future for America.

We as Americans could never get away with running up that much debt in our personal lives. I know that stockholders would demand change in a companies management if they were squandering profits and posting defecits. Why are we allowing Washington politicians to do this to us?

My fellow Americans, you also have choices on whether we should have an Edge on Education, on whether we should have accessable health care that does not discriminate against Americans who have difficult jobs or live in challenging neighborhoods. We can protect our environment for the children and grandchildren we have, and dream to have in our future.

A lot of politicians are talking a lot about protection in this election. My friends, we need to not only protect what we have built together as a nation---through a strong, graceful foreign policy that takes into consideration the long forgotten issue of foreign trade and globalization; America ultimately needs to talk about progress.

Progress is what my campaign is all about. For years, I have heard the long repressed passions and urges of Americans who want someone who will fight for the progress they so richly deserve. I am someone who will fight for those passions.

Thank you.

Mr. Ehrisman,

If elected President, what will be your major priorities in office?

Governor Carpenter, thank you for the question.

My first priority would be to the American people. Period. There are politicians who say that they care about Americans, but they only care about their pocketbooks and the special interests.

Our campaign is a campaign of progress, and progress must be our priority in the 21st century.

So how can we join together to insure that the 21st century is a century of progress for America?

The first thing we can do is change the direction our society is going under our President, from a society that thinks that just protection is good, to a society that embraces progress.

Progress means a balanced budget and fiscal discipline no matter who is in the White House.

Progress means that our minimum wage should be raised to insure that hard working Americans get justifiable reward for their hard work.

Progress means that we continue our Edge on Education in America. Which is why I would like to announce here that I will be unveiling a proposal tomorrow which will enable any American who is the first in their family to go to college, to go for their first two years free.

Progress means that Americans should have health care with no discrimination against where they live and what they do. That is why I have been the only candidate in New Hampshire who is supporting the repeal of SB110 and have been joined by 75,000 New Hampshire citizens who have signed petitions against it.

Progress means that our economy must continue to drive towards the future, with free and fair trade that holds other nations accountable who seek to undercut the American spirit of hard work and innovation.

People are what matter in America. People are my priority and the American people that I have worked with and talked to and campaigned with seek progress.

You know Mr. Ehrisman, for your first run, you've got the Washington Code down pat.

Mr. Ehrisman talks about progress, he says its his number one priority and he goes on to explain what progress means.

Progress to him focuses on laws that the federal government can't touch like SB110. Chris Ehrisman asked why I didn't get behind him on this issue. I didn't because the legislators of New Hampshire are accountable to the people of New Hampshire, not the Governor of Delaware and not a businessman from Michigan. I will not as President interfer with the business of the people of New Hampshire because I have faith that New Hampshire will do just fine without parenting by the federal government.

Progress to him focuses on Minimum wage while we have men and women in Iraq and are fighting a war on terror. A minimum wage that does not affect the vast majority of Americans and will hurt the viability of seasonal businesses such as New Hampshire's tourism industry.

Progress to Chris Ehrisman is a startlingly medieval idea of descriminating against children who don't happen to be the first born of their family. Mr. Ehrisman, this is not the dark ages; America does not descriminate against people because of the order of their birth.

My vision, which time permitting I will expand on later, is laying a foundation by paying down the debt and eliminating the deficit and changing the government to maximize equal opportunity for all Americans.

Governor Carpenter,

It is politicians like yourself that discredit the process through needless attacks instead of focus on the issues. Granted, that may be a little more challenging then getting into the mud, but when progress is on the line, sometimes leaders must do the difficult thing.

Because ONLY 23 million Americans would benefit from a minimum wage hike, Governor Carpenter attacks it as something that does not benefit the majority.

Being a leader isn't always about standing up for what 51% of America wants or needs. Being a leader is caring about progress and fighting for people who need fighting for.

For those who are more familiar with my background, you know that I was the youngest son with two older sisters. I was the first one to go to college and my proposal chooses to support minority and rural families who need a building block of progress so they can survive and thrive in the 21st century.

Ehrisman question to Carpenter:

Will you explain to me, where in your ten point plan includes consideration for minority and rural families across America?

Mr. Ehrisman, it would be incredibly difficult for me to defend a system that gives superior advantages to whichever child makes it to college first, as you apparently have done. Your education plan is half baked at best, blatantly discriminatory at worst.

And where in the world are you getting that 23 million people make 5.15 an hour? I only ask because the department of labor lists the figure at 2.2 million, half of which are under 25. Raising the minimum wage is a low priority for me, not because it doesn�t benefit the majority, but because we have a heck of lot more problems facing our country than the minimum wage.

Mr. Ehrisman, I am not the first person to go to university in my family, that honor went to my sister who graduated a year before me. Under your plan, for no reason other than she went through highschool before me, my sister would've been given free government support where I would get none. That is wrong and you should be ashamed for propagating such an unequal government program.

But I guess I shouldn�t be surprised at your question. You ask where my consideration for minorities and rural America is. I�ll tell you: It�s in every single point.

I�m not going to pander to people and I�m not going to throw out a bunch of promises to the constituencies of America. What I have done is craft a vision of America that is responsive to all Americans, regardless of their background, regardless of where they come from and where they�re going.

My plan is to lay a foundation by paying down the debt and eliminating the deficit. It is a vision for all Americans, not pick and choose.

We need to create an education system based on merit, not ability to pay and not birth order. Lowering the costs of higher learning most obviously benefits people coming from rural and minority backgrounds and ensures that we are supporting those who want to succeed.

We need to streamline and expand health coverage to those presently uninsured. Presently, 45 million Americans are uninsured, two thirds of which are low income earners, 20% of which are children. Yes, more than a third of Hispanics are uninsured, a quarter of Native Americans, and 20% of African and Asian Americans, but for all the hyphens they are all Americans.

Government is about creating opportunity for all Americans, not a patchwork quilt of special interests. Government is about creating, maintaining and protecting that opportunity so that all Americans, no matter who they are, are given that chance to succeed.

Governor,

You claim that you are for America and Americans without distinction, then comes the response to my question. The truth is, you fail to see the details and life stories of each American family.

You claim that only 2.2 million Americans would be impacted by a minimum wage hike, but you fail to consider the Americans making 5.50 an hour currently and 6.50 an hour. You fail to consider the businesses that would be impacted positively by greater consumer spending.

You fail to realize that for poor and desperate parents who seek to hand down a greater life for their children, they will thankfully embrance every opportunity possible for college financial assistance. You claim that higher education is something that should be achieved with the ability to pay neutralized.

Yet, Governor Carpenter; where is your propsoal to reduce the burden of college on working families? I don't see it sir.

That seems to be your overall theme, you fail to see the burdens of working families in this nation. Which is why you are opposed to a minimum wage hike and you are opposed to college aid to families who have not been graced with college education. You talk about delivering health care to more Americans, but then you stand and say that you are opposed to SB110 which discriminates against those who work and live in less desirable situations.

You have made the distinction clear tonight, that politicians like yourself are out of touch with the needs of working Americans.

Mr. Ehrisman, you are unbelievable.

What you have just described isn't a government that places opportunity paramount, but a social welfare state. And a selective one at that.

If I'm failing to consider business' that will be positively impacted, its that I'm also considering business' that will be unfairly impacted because of an unfair government intervention in the market like the New Hampshire tourism industy.

As for higher education, well, after we eliminate the deficit we increase government bursaries to students as budgetary conditions allow. A slow and steady implementation designed to eventually create a system by which those who have shown the ability to go to college will be able to do so.

Mr. Ehrisman, you fail to see the burden of the government. If I gave money to everyone now, it will just come back as debt servicing taxes later. I will not do that to Americans, you shouldn't either.

Mr. Ehrisman, what are your plans for the second child who goes to college? How do you address the inequity of your plan?