February 27, 2012
Dear Commission on Presidential Debates,
Please allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Chris Vanocur and I am the Senior Political Reporter
for the ABC affiliate (KTVX) in Salt Lake City, Utah.
I am writing you to officially request my inclusion as a panelist/questioner in one
of the four Presidential Debates to be held in October of this year.
While the network journalists who are assigned these positions do a very commendable
job, my concern is that qualified local journalists are not included.
Not all pertinent questions or issues are to be found in Washington, New York or
America’s largest cities.
In my opinion, adding different perspectives to these debates would benefit
America’s citizenry and voters.
Furthermore, I believe I have the qualifications for this assignment.
I have been a political reporter for more than 20 years and have been fortunate enough to be honored with some of America’s most prestigious journalism and broadcast awards.
Also, there would also be a nice bit of symmetry to my being selected.
My father was one of the panelists in the first Presidential debate between
John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon in 1960 – 52 years ago.
Finally, I have even bought a new suit in hopes of being selected for
this honor!
I can be reached at:
chris@abc4.tv or on Twitter: @cvan4.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Respectfully,
Chris Vanocur
Senior Political Reporter
ABC 4 News
