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The televised presidential debates are a critical forum for a candidate looking to spread his or her message. The current criteria for inclusion were created by the Commission on Presidential Debates. This corporation is controlled by our country's two dominant political parties-- the Democrats and Republicans--for the sole purpose, apparently, of stifling the voices of emerging-party and independent candidates who are more principled in how they raise money and don't have legions of backers in the corporate media.
15% support in 5 corporate polls is required just to get in the door (i.e. "Who would you vote for if the election were held today?"). This is true even if a majority of Americans want you on stage.
We need to hear every candidate who got on enough state ballots to win (this is extremely difficult, but I won't get into that here). Jesse Ventura, the famous dark-horse Governor of Minnesota won because he was allowed to debate several times (he started out at just 10% in the polls). Americans should denounce our debate inclusion criteria for what they are: a partisan sham.
