STAMFORD, Conn., September 21, 2004 – Cong. Kendrick Meek (D-FL), Cong. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Florida State Sen. Dave Aronberg (D), and Florida State Rep. David Rivera (R) will join WWE Champion John “Bradshaw” Layfield ™ and WWE Superstar and New York Times best-selling author Mick Foley™ in the first-ever Smackdown Your Vote! Youth Debate Sept. 29 sponsored by World Wrestling Entertainment and the University of Miami.

ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper will moderate and guide the 90-minute debate on key issues facing young Americans of voting age. Panelists will discuss President George W. Bush’s, Senator John Kerry’s and Ralph Nader’s responses to a national voter issues paper (The 18-30 VIP) issued by WWE and its Smackdown Your Vote! partners earlier this year.

“ABC News Now” will air the debate in its entirety starting the same night at 10 p.m. EST.

Students from the University of Miami will also participate in the debate, which is being held at the Gusman Concert Hall at the University of Miami Coral Gables Campus before an audience of 500 students. WWE is producing the debate – held the night before the first presidential candidate debate at the University of Miami – in consultation with the Commission on Presidential Debates.

“ABC News Now” is a 24/7 news service available via digital television, digital cable, broadband, and wireless. With numerous ABC affiliated stations offering “ABC News Now” in their local markets, this expanded news programming reaches over 65 percent of the country and 6.5 million digital cable subscribers. For a full list of digital cable and over the air channels in 70 ABC affiliate markets, go to http://abcnews.go.com/sections/abcnewsnow/index.html. Additionally, “ABC News Now” is available also to nearly 36 million Internet viewers, including 24 million AOL members and through ABC News On Demand or RealNetworks’ SuperPass subscriptions, and for Comcast.net, SBC Yahoo! DSL, and BellSouth FastAccess DSL customers.

The 18-30 VIP was created as part of the Smackdown Your Vote! effort to increase voter turnout among 18-to 30-year-olds by 2 million or 10% in the 2004 election. If that goal is achieved, 20 million 18-to 30-year-olds will vote on November 2, 2004.

The responses to the VIP by President Bush, Sen. Kerry, and Ralph Nader, as well as responses from other candidates for federal and state office, are available at www.smackdownyourvote.com.

The 18-30 VIP outlines the issues most important to 18-to 30-year-old Americans in this election– such as the economy, Iraq, and education – as determined by research conducted by various organizations, including Harvard University.

The University of Virginia Center for Politics and its Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) are using The 18-30 VIP and the debate to support curriculum materials for 10,000 teachers nationwide. In 2004, YLI will conduct the nation’s largest secure on-line mock election, including presidential and congressional races in all 50 states as well as this fall's 11 gubernatorial races. Teachers can access free resources for this event and Smackdown Your Vote’s VIP by visiting YLI’s website at www.youthleadership.net

The debate, The 18-30 VIP, and the YLI are part of the WWE’s Smackdown Your Vote! Campaign designed to educate more young Americans on the election process. To this end, the WWE, the Commission on Presidential Debates and the University of Miami will be conducting various programs in public schools in the Miami area the week of the debate.

Smackdown Your Vote!, founded in July 2000, is a non-partisan approach to getting young people involved in the political process and registered to vote. Through Smackdown Your Vote!, WWE has collaborated with many non-profit, non-partisan organizations to engage 18-to 30-year-olds in the political process, including the League of Women Voters, the Youth Vote Coalition, Rock The Vote, Harvard Institute of Politics, MTV Choose or Lose, New Voters Project, 18-to-35, Declare Yourself, and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. The collaborative program’s goal is to get 20 million 18-to 30-year-olds to the polls in 2004, an increase of two million over the election turnout in 2000. In addition to conducting voter registration at WWE live events, Smackdown Your Vote! will visit high schools and colleges across the country conducting voter registration rallies. For information on the program go to smackdownyourvote.com.

The University of Miami’s mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of the diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. www.miami.edu

For a complete listing of events, and more information on the Presidential Debate at the University of Miami, visit www.miami.edu/debate04

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto and London. Additional information on the company can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.

Media Contacts:
University of Miami: Margot Winick, 305-284-5500
WWE: Gary Davis, 203-353-5066; Kate Cox, 203-352-8630
ABC News: Julie Summersgill, 212-456-2478 or julie.l.summersgill@abc.com


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