Senator John Kerry (© Ron Edmonds/AP Wide World), Ralph Nader (© Rick Bowmer/AP Wide World), and President George W. Bush (© Ron Edmonds/AP Wide World).

Saturday, October 23—Everyone is used to the usual presidential debates that happen every four years between the two major candidates. But did you know about the recent debate that included activist and independent candidate Ralph Nader?

This debate might be new to you. It happened online between Nader, Senator John Kerry, and President George Bush. Another difference is that some of the questions came from nonvoters like you and me.

The New Voters Project Presidential Youth Debate sponsored the online question-and-answer session. Young voters age 18 to 35 and "future voters" age 13 to 17 sent in questions in advance. Several panels reviewed the submissions, looking for questions that have not been addressed in other debates. The more than 5,100 questions were cut down to 12, one of which came from the future voters group.

Future voters were interested in tolerance, especially of religious beliefs. The question chosen came from Marcy, a 17-year-old student from Colorado:

"The Bush administration has made a big deal of President Bush's Christian faith. Democratic candidate John Kerry is also a Christian. My question for the candidates is how does your faith affect your decision-making for the future of our country? Also, America is based on the separation of church and state. For the candidates, is it conflicting to take a position on issues based on Christianity when not everyone in America believes in God or Christianity?"

Each candidate was allowed 300 words or less to answer.

"If you're a person of faith as I am, faith is your guidepost, your moral compass—the sustaining force in everything you do," Kerry said in part of his answer. "God's work must truly be our own and the job of a leader is to convey to people that what we do does not speak for one particular belief but bring people together around a set of values that we share as a nation."

Bush also spoke of his personal faith.

"I have a great respect for people of all beliefs, and I am proud to live in a nation that welcomes and respects people of diverse philosophies and backgrounds," he said in part of his answer. "My faith has made a big difference in both my personal life and my public life. As President, I make decisions based on what I think is best for the country. However, my faith is an integral part of my life, and I cannot separate my faith from who I am as a person."

Nader charged the two major political parties with violating the constitutional separation of church and state.

"The continually weakening separation between church and state can also be seen in the two parties pressing for or allowing faith-based government funding," Nader said in part of his answer. "When considered against the deterioration of standards of living, access to justice and the dwindling power of the people vs. giant corporations, the party's offerings are grossly insufficient."

The Presidential Youth Debate began in 1996 when incumbent President Bill Clinton was challenged by Senator Bob Dole. This year, the influence of young people on the election has become a focus of both campaigns.

"Being perceived as the better President for children will be essential for success in November," said John Geraci, vice president of Youth Research at Harris Interactive. "There has been an unprecedented push to get Generation Y enthused about voting and political involvement." Joining the New Voters Project are an explosion of young voter drives such as MTV's Rock the Vote, Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs's Citizen Change, and the WWE's Smackdown Your Vote!

"[These groups] place considerable resources behind motivating young people—even those who are not yet of voting age," Geraci says.