According to this story, the Texas Tribune has invited Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, and Evan McMullin to debate. However, it appears the Texas Tribune did not set out any objective criteria for debate inclusion. Darrell Castle and Rocky De La Fuente are on the ballot in substantially more states than Evan McMullin is on. It is possible the Tribune has found a poll that includes all of those candidates, and it is possible McMullin polled above some level of support, and that Castle and De La Fuente were below that level of support. But it is doubtful such a poll exists.
The debate would violate FEC rules if it has no objective criteria.
See? Now you understand the reason that Libertarians don’t like campaign finance law? It IS a violation of the 1st Amendment.
Did they invite Trump and Clinton too?
It would be hopeless to invite them. The CPD forces candidates to sign that they will not participate in any other general election debates. That is why Gary Johnson and Jill Stein are trying to use the antitrust laws to fight CPD.
How about C-SPAN do third party debates again like they did in 96.
Is this an independent debate being offered by a privately owned company .Then Dec rules for any criteria or objectivism should not apply .Texas Tribune is privately owned .
I read the Texas Tribune is a non profit publication .I didn’t know anything about this publication .I thought it was a for profit company .I guess there are rules for non profits who want to host political debates .My mistake .Why isn’t there a publication like this in Kansas city or Columbia Missouri .
I don’t see why they can’t have a more serious and comprehensive set of candidates, perhaps: Johnson, Stein, La Fuente, La Riva, and Castle. That would be fun! McMuffin is just a distraction/worse time-sucker than Pokemon Go. He and Roseanne Barr should start a talk show together.
Who’s on the ballot in Texas? If it’s Johnson, Stein, and McMullin, that might make sense.
It makes no sense to debate a “candidate” who didn’t even announce a running mate until this week.
It’s pretty obvious that McMullin’s sole function is to drain support from Johnson.
Evan Smith (CEO of the Texas Tribune) had offhandedly tweeted:
“The @texastribune would be happy to host a @GovGaryJohnson @DrJillStein @Evan_McMullin debate. I think.”
After people demanded that he invite other candidates he responded:
“THERE IS NO DEBATE. I’ve offered to host one, but I’ve talked to precisely zero candidates. So no one’s been excluded”
They should invite all the write-in candidates. Darrell Castle, Scott Cubbler, Cherunda Fox, Tom Hoefling, Laurence Kotlikoff, Jonathan Lee, Michael Maturen, Evan McMullin, Monica Moorehead. Robert Morrow, Emidio Soltysik, Dale Steffes, Tony Valdivia.
If just their elector candidates showed up that is almost 500 persons.
What about Constitution Party candidate, Darrell Castle? He is on the ballot in a lot more states than Evan McMullin, so why not include him in the debates? If it is only going to be a three way debate, take McMullin out and put Castle in instead,
I agree with most on this thread. Darrell Castle of the Constitution Party should be included moreso than Evan McMullen. Also, Rocky de la Fuente of American Delta.
Andy,
Figure out the Twitter handle for Castle, and get on Twitter and twiddle that you would be happy to host a debate with any of the candidates you would like.
You will have put as much effort as Evan Smith has in arranging a debate, and about 0.01% of the effort of James Ogle in creating the California Senate debate.
Jill Stein will be debating Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton for the second time… From the Green Party’s press release: “On October 9th, Dr. Stein will provide real-time responses to the debate questions alongside Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton from a studio near Washington University. Her responses will be inserted into the ongoing live feed of the official debate. This democratized version of the Presidential debate will be livestreamed on Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka’s official social media accounts via Periscope and Facebook Live, with a televised simulcast carried by Democracy Now! on Free Speech TV and Link TV as part of their “Expanding the Debate” special. Online viewers can also read, watch and share individual responses that will be posted on Dr. Stein’s Twitter stream.”
Rocky de la Fuente should be included before Evan McMullin as well.
The Socialist Workers party Candidates is not a write in candidate in Texas .I still thought they a few supporters left after closing their Houston Branch .What’s going on here .
Donald Trump’s campaign might as well be over .His comments towards women are horrible .If I said the things he said I would probably be slapped in the face .Or lose my job .
Are Castle and De La Fuente on the Texas ballot? Is McMullin?
That could be their reasoning.
If I were a presidential candidate, I would not sign the CPD pledge.
DSZ199, and Hoefling, too.
The minor-party debate might be more interesting.
The Texas Tribune did not reason. The Texas Tribune did not issue any invitations. The Texas Tribune did not expend any effort in arranging a debate.
Evan Smith CEO of the Texas Tribune (@evanasmith) twiddled about a debate. He spent 10 times the effort twiddling during the OU-TU game on Saturday.