With the 2008 presidential election in less than a month, media coverage on Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain is steadily increasing. What the media tends to neglect, however, is the news of the other candidates running for president – those from independent third parties.

With this oversight in mind, the University’s Demosthenian Literary Society is hosting a panel debate for third party candidates in Georgia tonight. The event will include representatives from independent parties such as the Green, Libertarian, Socialist Worker’s and Constitution Parties.

However, tonight’s debate should not be limited to those students who are self-declared third party supporters, but to all students, no matter how firmly set their voting decisions may be. Daniel Brettschneider, a junior from Marietta and president of the Demosthenian Literary Society, said third party candidates “present a philosophy of governance not advocated by either of our major parties. That philosophy may be correct, and we only harm ourselves by not considering it.”

The debate will cover topics similar to those covered in the presidential debates: the war in Iraq, alternative energy, health care and the economy.

The views expressed by the third party representatives, however, promise to be very different from the views heard over the past year from the two major parties running for office.

Their platforms range from a focus on non-violence and sustainable energy to a call to unionize workers and defend the rights of working-class Americans.

Though American politics has always been heavily dominated by the two major parties, their views offer alternatives with which many students on campus identify.

“Both of the major party candidates are too interested in serving special interests and their own agendas,” said Ryan Giles, a sophomore from Kennesaw. “The third party debate will show students alternatives to the major party candidates and will be a chance to broaden their horizons.”

Voting for third parties is often seen as throwing away a vote that could have been for one of the two major candidates; many still blame third party candidate Ralph Nader for Al Gore’s loss in 2000. But Brettschneider said he insists that considering third party candidates is a very important part of deciding for whom to vote.

“Your vote is the most precious contribution you can make to the well- being of your country,” he said. “When you vote for a third-party candidate because you believe they are in the right, your conscience is clear. You have advocated good, and not sold your morals for utility.”

Brettschneider hopes that the debate will show University students that there are other options for their vote, and that a student voting for a candidate he believes in, no matter what party that candidate is in, is not a waste of a vote.