What if we had real elections with real debates in America? 

Dr. Jill Stein, the frontrunner in the Green Party presidential primaries, has accepted an invitation by Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney to join him in nationally televised debate. Romney issued the invitation yesterday, April Fools Day, in advance of his expected victory in the Wisconsin primary.

"I'm still embarassed that Dr. Stein bested me the last time we debated," said Romney, "I'm hoping she'll give me a rematch so that the voters can see that I have some substance too. Really, I do."

Stein and Romney last faced off in the 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial debates. Media accounts described Dr. Stein as the biggest winner of those debates, and in one case as "the only adult in the room."  See the video here.

"I am up for the challenge, and look forward to debating Mitt Romney again," said Stein, a Lexington physician and long-time advocate for Medicare for All, clean elections, and a green economy. "I will show that Romney and Obama are in lockstep with Wall Street, and out of step with the American people on health care, energy policy, corporate power, and the urgency of ending unemployment." 

The location and timing of the presidential debates is yet to be determined. In the absence of a Romney proposal, the Stein campaign has suggested Benton Harbor, Michigan, and Oakland, California. The Obama campaign has yet to issue a statement on presidential debates.

"This is a step in the right direction, a return to having a fair debate process," said Dr. Stein, referring to the 24-year monopoly on presidential debates held by the bipartisan corporate-financed Commission on Presidential Debates.

Until 1988, the non-partisan League of Women Voters sponsored most presidential debates. The League criteria included candidates who appeared on enough state ballot lines to actually win the Electoral College, and who polled at over one percent of the national vote. Dr. Stein has won the first 10 Green Party primaries and the Green Party has already secured enough ballot lines to win the presidency.