The commission was the direct result of a study that was conducted at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in 1985, which was co-chaired by former secretary of defence Melvin Laird and former DNC party chairman Robert Strauss. It was a 40-person body that studied a number of different election-related issues, including debates. The one item they reached consensus on was that there should be an independent entity that does nothing but debates, that does not do anything else that might pose a conflict.
The original members of the commission board were largely chosen from that group of people, which was a 40-person group that included leadership from all the different sectors of society. There is a provision in the bylaws that says there will be a nominating committee within the commission's structure that will look at names of people who might be recruited to serve on the commission.
One of your witnesses mentioned that we are “bipartisan”. We are non-partisan, and I think that right now the board is probably evenly divided between Republicans, Democrats, and independents in terms of how they would self-identify.
We look for people who have had some experience that would make political debates at this level a familiar experience, who understand that they have to be completely neutral in their decisions regarding the debates and the participants, and that even if they have previously been involved in partisan politics, this is a place where, to quote current and founding co-chairman Frank Fahrenkopf, no one wears a party hat: they wear a U.S. of A. hat. You look for people who will understand that this is an unusual role to be playing during a general election. It is one that people feel strongly enough about that they're willing to take part in what are quite often some very difficult decisions and criticism.