Anheuser-Busch, AT&T and Sun Microsystems, which are sponsoring this year's debates, all have issues before the U.S. Congress. Anheuser-Busch spent $1.4 million on lobbying in 1999. This year, the brewer is urging Congress to oppose a nationwide 0.08 percent standard for drunken driving.

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who is also the presidential candidate for the Green Party, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., to halt the sponsorship. The suit contends that the federal law which prohibits corporate contributions to campaigns also applies to the debates. Nader is hoping the lawsuit will overturn a Federal Election Commission ruling that allows such corporate donations.

"Unlawful corporate contributions to the debates corrupts the political process, tilts the electoral playing field sharply toward the Democratic and Republican parties, undermining third parties and limiting the choices of voters," Nader said.

This past January, the Commission on Presidential Debates ruled that only candidates with at least 15 percent support in national polls could participate in the debates.

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