Les Francis, who was Deputy Chief of Staff to President Jimmy Carter, has written this op-ed in the December 13 San Jose Mercury News. Francis writes that in 1980, he was so opposed to third party and independent candidates, he worked with the Democratic National Committee to keep independent John B. Anderson off the ballot. He says he has changed his mind and that a mainstream independent presidential candidate would be good for the country.
The Democratic presidential debate held in Des Moines, Iowa, on December 13, was confined to only six candidates. They were Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Obama and Richardson.
The debate sponsor, the Des Moines Register, required candidates to have had a campaign office open in Iowa, prior to October 1, 2007. Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel did not meet that requirement. This is the first Democratic presidential debate this year with fewer than seven participants. No Republican debate this year has had fewer than seven participants either, except for one that had only six (thanks to the commenter below). There have been 22 presidential debates this year for Republicans and Democrats.
In January, the Hawaii Democratic Party State Central Committee will decide whether to file a lawsuit against Hawaii’s open primary. Here is an article from Honolulu’s daily newspaper on the party’s recent internal debate over whether to go ahead with the lawsuit.
New Jersey holds presidential primaries for the Republican and Democratic Parties. Candidates need 1,000 signatures. In the Republican primary, neither Tom Tancredo nor Duncan Hunter filed. In the Democratic primary, neither Chris Dodd nor Mike Gravel filed.
Candidates who did file in the Democratic primary are: Biden, Clinton, Edwards, Kucinich, Obama and Richardson. Those who filed in the Republican primary are: Giuliani, Huckabee, McCain, Paul, Romney, and Thompson.
New York Republican Party rules do not require presidential primary candidates to submit a petition, if those candidates raise enough money to qualify for primary season matching funds (whether they file or not), or if they are discussed in the news media. The Republican presidential primary will carry these names: Giuliani, Huckabee, Hunter, McCain, Paul, Romney, Tancredo, and Thompson.
