On October 14, Ralph Nader sent this letter to Janet Brown, Executive Director, Commission on Presidential Debates, 1200 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington DC 20036:
“Dear Ms. Brown, in a spirit of fairness, since you won’t allow us in the debates or release the secret polls that you rely on to figure out which candidates meet your threshold of 15% national support, I would like to ask that you allow me, and the three other third party Presidential candidates who are on the majority of state ballots, the common courtesy to at least have a seat at the debates among the audience.
As a secondary point, I would like to ask you to make public which polls the Commission on Presidential Debates relied upon to determine who is allowed into the Debate. We have reason for concern on this matter, as it appears that some major polling organizations, Gallup to name one that you have used in the past, claim to include third parties, but on closer inspection this is only true one out of every 200 times.
Gallup’s daily tracking poll asks voters if they support Obama, McCain, neither, or someone else. Because millions of Americans don’t know we or the other third party candidates are running, less than half a percent say someone else. It is an accepted rule of thumb in polling to go from the general to the specific, not the other way around. As evidence for this, in polls that mention me by name in the primary question, such as the Sept. 24 Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, I get 5% support nationally. This is still far from the 15% threshold that your considerably inflated criteria requires, but it would be rather disingenious bordering on fraudulent to base a criteria on a threshold in polls, which you don’t even bother to admit may not even be polling the candidates other than those of the Republican and Democratic Parties that created and control the CPD. For Fairness and the Voters Right to Know, Ralph Nader.” UPDATE: according to the Nader campaign, the e-mail address for Janet Brown is jb@debates.org.
Ralph is the best.
TODAY, Ralph’s the cable guy!
Ralph will be on CNBC with John Harwood between 2 and 3 p.m. EST.
He will be on CNN with Rick Sanchez at 3:30 p.m. EST.
He will be on the NewsHour on PBS between 6 and 7 p.m. EST.
And he’ll be on Fox with Shepherd Smith at 7:30 p.m. EST.
So, grab your remote, and look out for Ralph.
Ralph is right, it’s hard to poll 15% when your name isn’t in the poll.
Please look at my Commission on Presidential Debates complaint page. (Click on my name above.)
The final presidential debate will be moderated by noted CBS newsman Bob Schieffer.
Last week I managed to get a message to him (at his Washington DC office) that when he gives his introductory and closing remarks that he at least gives a token mention that this debate is/was between two of OTHER candidates, though ideally, I urged him, the names & political affiliations of Nader and Barr should be explicitly stated for such a “debate of record.”
Actually I’ve contacted other moderators over the past decades (sometimes speaking directly to them). Some were sympathetic, MacNeil and Lehrer actually agreed(!), but to no avail: so far no moderator has even hinted that other candidates exist.
We’ll see if Schieffer comes thru….
That Ralph Nader has to ask permission to sit in a debate as a member of the audience shows us just how far removed from ordinary America is this example of reality tv called a Presidential debate. What are they afriad of- that his face might appear before millions as the candidates dodge another question about America’s future. Ralph Nader is not for sale and neither is my vote.
Nader had a very courteous and pointed letter. Yes, to the question above: The govt-media complex is afraid that citizens will prefer something other than Cheez-its or Cheese Nips.
It’s a real Catch-22, isn’t it? You can’t debate unless you’re polling at 15%, and you can’t poll at 15% unless you can get into the debates.
What a sham our democracy has become!We need more voices. We need Ralph Nader!
Go Nader/Gonzalez ’08!
Janet Brown.
Executive Director.
The first three “debates”.
What more can be said?
I like this idea: have the 3 Presidential Debates and VP Debate as follows:
1st Pres. Debate & VP Debate: All candidates on enough ballots to hypothetically win an Electoral College majority.
2nd Pres. Debate: All candidates that have 5% of the national vote
3rd Pres. Debate: All candidates that have 15% of the national vote
Although this idea isn’t ideal, it beats the current system.
Derek: Not bad, but only if the candidates can actually ask each other unscripted questions. Ditto the audience.
Michael: You mean like in a high school debate? I really think the “Presidential Debates” should be like them.
High School Debate actually only includes a short period of actual questioning…12 minutes, in 4 3 minute spurts after each 8 minute speech, and rebuttal speeches. At least in formal debate.
There are no questions from the audience.
I know that Schieffer can moderate a debate with at least 5 candidates. I was in one with five candidates that he moderated.
Nader needs peemission because last time they arrested him even though he had a ticket. I commend Nader for asking that Barr, Baldwin and McKinney be allowed to attend also. If they are there maybe the get asked a question by a reporter after the debate.
I’m hoping they let Baldwin, Barr, McKinney & Nader inside the actual debate audience, because they will get some television exposure after the event. I would expect FOX News to cover Barr, CNN to cover Nader and MSNBC won’t cover anyone. I don’t find any 3rd party candidates on that channel at all.