The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute are pulling out the stops to promote a jointly sponsored GOP presidential debate to be aired on CNN at 8 p.m. (ET) on Tuesday, Nov. 22. Wolf Blitzer will moderate the debate that will be centered on foreign policy and national security.
Debate watch parties are popular in many communities, and with that in mind, Heritage is offering free party kits.
The debate sponsors have also set up a Facebook page “to gauge which foreign policy issues matter most to folks.”
CBS aired and co-sponsored the first foreign policy debate held at Wofford College in South Carolina on Nov. 13. Twitter and Facebook lit up with irate complaints when CBS only aired the first hour of that debate on most affiliate stations. Viewers had to resort to catching the last half hour online and the live stream was full of glitches.
When issues like foreign policy or national security arise, most media focus on China, Iran and conflicts in the Middle East.
However, in the Wofford Debate, Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich introduced a subject vital to Americans, a subject media rarely cover. Gingrich noted the risks to US sovereignty posed by Agenda 21, a United Nations policy the U.S. agreed to during President Bill Clinton’s administration. Clinton didn’t bring the matter to the attention of Congress. He implemented it by executive order.
Other issues that have impacted or will impact US sovereignty include the Avena decision President Barack Obama pledged allegiance to, and UN Resolution 7/19. Obama indirectly supported that resolution when he obtained a seat for the U.S. on the UN Human Rights Council.
UN Resolution 7/19 titled ‘Combating Defamation of Religions,’ purports to ensure respect for all faiths. The only specific faith mentioned in that document is Islam. Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and other world faiths are not mentioned at all.
While status quo topics like China are important, some experts predict US sovereignty will be a critical issue going forward, particularly as globalism continues to expand despite critics who question its impact.
US Senate candidate Ted Cruz wrote an analysis related to US sovereignty in an article for The Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.
Heritage has provided information about different aspects of foreign policy at special pages online.
“The timing couldn’t be better. We’re setting the table for some lively family discussions at Thanksgiving,” Heritage President Edwin J. Feulner said. “Nothing is more important to the future of our nation than how we approach national security and foreign policy.”
The event marks the first time Heritage or AEI–both nonprofit, nonpartisan research institutes–has sponsored a presidential debate.
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