Free Republic

Mexico's electoral authority apologized to voters on Monday after a sober presidential debate was upstaged by a former Playboy model and her revealing outfit. Clad in a tight-fitting white dress with a cut below the neckline to show much of her cleavage, Julia Orayen was working as an assistant on the televised debate, which focused on the economy and the drug-related violence ravaging Mexico. At the start of Sunday night's debate, Orayen walked in front of the camera to hand out cards to the four candidates, and created an immediate stir on online social media. The appearance lasting a few...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Increasingly challenged by minor-party candidates, several news organizations asked federal election officials Wednesday to stay out of decisions about which candidates are invited to televised debates.The coalition, led by CBS, wants to change a federal rule it says could treat a news organization's invitation to appear in its candidate debate as an illegal corporate campaign contribution.To avoid having debates counted as donations, news organizations now must follow "pre-established objective criteria" in deciding which federal candidates may participate.The Federal Election Commission rule does not spell out the criteria, but notes that nomination by a particular political party cannot...