The League of Women Voters recently sponsored general election debates for Texas candidates for Governor and Attorney General in Kerrville. See this story. However, neither of the Republican nominees participated. The article does not explain why the Green Party gubernatorial candidate was not in the debate. Concerning the Attorney General debate, there is no Green Party nominee.
The president of the local LWV explained that they had set a rule that invitations to the forum (not a debate) would be issued to candidates as of June 23, and that they were “aware” that there were other candidates that had qualified since then. She spent enough time on the issue, that it was obvious that the question had been raised and discussed by the LWV. Since parties that nominate by convention are required to hold their state convention on the 2nd Saturday in June (June 12, 2010) and have 20 days to certify their nominees, one wonders how the LWV determined who the candidates were.
The LWV also had a rule (this might be a national or state policy) that at least two candidates must show up. Because only the Libertarian Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor showed up, that portion of the forum was cancelled.
http://www.justin.tv/kvhc/b/266335768
If the Republicans chose not to participate in the debate, I can only assume its because their ideas, if challenged, cannot withstand any scrutiny. For this reason, voters(if they are fiscally conservative) should not vote for them, but should either vote for the Libertarian candidates or abstain from voting entirely.
Do not reward political parties that assume you are too ignorant to find out where they stand on the issues. Do not reward political parties that assume you will vote for them because you are a mindless conformist worker bee, voting out of party loyalty alone. (The Republicans will definitely be on the ballot next election, so you are not even contributing to their access to the ballot or internal organization.)
Wake up, Texas! You have been entrenched in central bank socialism since 1913! The system of debt-based paper currency has almost run its course. The only decent congressman in the USA is in your 14th district, and he’s a life member of the Libertarian Party. Ron Paul’s suggested monetary reforms are the only thing that can possibly prevent the destruction of this country. It’s time to stop voting for who mommy and daddy told you to vote for, and start thinking for yourselves.
The forum (not debate) was for a local branch of the LWV in Kerrville, TX 4 months before the election, before 200 people and broadcast over a local cable network.