We frequently hear some Republican or Democrat say that the debates have
to be limited to just those with 15% support in the polls because
there are over 200 people running for President officially, and you couldn't
possibly have them all on the stage. But I receive a note from Jack
Dean, calling my attention to information from Richard Winger (America's
ballot-access expert). Winger points out that there are only 16 candidates
who are on the ballot in even one state this year. Only 7 candidates
are on enough states to theoretically win a majority in the Electoral College.
Of the 9 candidates who can't win mathematically, the most active is on
only ten state ballots.
The first debate should have been held in early September, well before
voters had made up their minds on the basis of what little information
was available. That first debate should have included everyone with
a mathematical ability to win the election -- in other words, seven candidates
(Bush, Gore, Browne, Nader, Buchanan, Hagelin, and Phillips).
There probably should have been two such debates, so that every voter would
have an opportunity to view each of these candidates. Having seven
candidates would have been no more unwieldy than the early Republican primary
debates.
By late September, the field should have been trimmed to, perhaps, the
top five in the polls. At that point perhaps only those with 5% or more
in the polls should be included. And one or more of those candidates
who don't have 5% now might have earned that much support through the exposure
of the earlier debates.
The current debate system will always be rigged because the Republicans
and Democrats operate the Debate Commission. They raise corporate
money to sponsor these political- advocacy debates by legally allowing
the corporations to violate the campaign finance laws and to deduct the
donations from their income tax -- something you and I are prohibited by
laws from doing. The Debate Commission is not something that sprung
up in the free market; it is a creature of government. |
