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The recently concluded vice-presidential debate failed to include all of the vice-presidential candidates who were on enough ballots to win the election. Matt Gonzalez (Nader), Rosa Clemente (Green), Wayne Root (Libertarian), and Darrell Castle (Constitution) were arbitrarily excluded from the debate.The reason why is the debates are run by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). The Commission was formed in 1987 to take control of the debates from the League of Women Voters, who allowed emerging-party and independent candidates a fair chance to participate. In 1980, for example, the League invited John Anderson (I) to debate. The CPD is run by former chairmen of the Republican and Democratic parties and still serves the interests of those parties faithfully: no outside competition, restrictive/safe debate rules, unpublished debate contracts.
This is an unconscionable fraud. The Democrats and Republicans must surrender their control of the Presidential debates or face the perfectly reasonable charge that they are stamping out democracy in this country.
Write your members of Congress, write the press, break the debates open!
