The New York Sun reports that the third debate between President Bush and Kerry has been thrown into doubt after a state judge in Arizona ordered a hearing on whether the debate should be halted because the Libertarian Party's nominee for president, Michael Badnarik has not been invited.
Judge F. Pendleton Gaines III instructed the debate's hosts, Arizona State University and the Commission on Presidential Debates, to appear in his courtroom in Phoenix on Tuesday to respond to a lawsuit filed last week by the Libertarians.
The suit alleges that the university is illegally donating state resources to the Republican and Democratic Parties by serving as host for a debate including President Bush and Kerry but excluding Libertarian Michael Badnarik, who is on the ballot in Arizona and 47 other states.
The university says it is not spending public money on the debate:
"We have underwritten it using private donations, in-kind gifts, and private foundation funds," the university spokeswoman said. "The price we've been working with is $2.5 million, and that's what we've been trying to raise," Ms. Neff said.
[. . .]
Ms. Neff acknowledged, however, that the university has yet to raise all the funds required for the event, which is scheduled to take place at an auditorium on the school's Tempe campus, just east of Phoenix. "We're still raising money even as we work on it," she said, adding that at the last tally about $2.3 million had been pledged.
This law suit isn't likely to get too far, but it makes things more interesting.
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