Third-party voices need to be heard in debates

Dan Warthen Charlottesville
Published: October 3, 2008

On Sept. 26, Barack Obama and John McCain had the first of their debates, sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The CPD, according to its Web site, was established “to ensure that debates, as a permanent part of every general election, provide the best possible information to viewers and listeners.”

But who decides what constitutes “the best possible information”?
In a 2004 Zogby poll, 57 percent of respondents said they would like to see “other candidates” included in the debates. In a 2008 Zogby poll, 55 percent said they would like to see Bob Barr included in the debates, and 46 percent would like them to include Ralph Nader. Among independents, those numbers are a whopping 69 percent for Barr and 59 percent for Nader. Additionally, a 2008 Rasmussen poll found that 58 percent of Americans say a competitive third party would be good for the United States.
The American people realize that the issues facing our nation are complex and that they require a serious, open discussion and debate. We are still mired in many of the same problems we have been facing for decades: addiction to non-renewable energy sources, looming entitlement debts, perennial budget deficits, faltering education.

We need “the best possible information” in order to properly analyze these problems and develop solutions, and to then put the best qualified people in office to execute them.
The CPD has decided, in contrast to the majority of Americans, that “the best possible information” is that which comes either, and exclusively, from a Democrat or Republican. This is not surprising considering that the CPD is run by the Democratic and Republican parties.
The third parties — despite the fact that several of them have achieved nationwide ballot access and could therefore theoretically gain the required number of electoral votes to win the presidency, and the fact that the majority of Americans want to see them in the debates and hear their views — have been excluded from the debates.

This is undemocratic and does a disservice to voters.

Issues that will determine the future of our nation and of our lives as individual citizens deserve a fair, open debate. If the CPD will invite the third party candidates, that debate could begin. Otherwise, we, the Ameri-can people, will continue to suffer the consequences of a lack of “the best possible information.”