Conversations on Debates

On Thursday, September 20, the American Association of Retired People (AARP) and Iowa Public Television (IPT) sponsored a nationally televised presidential forum - and they excluded former Senator Mike Gravel and Rep. Dennis Kucinich. The forum, entitled "Divided We Fail Presidential Candidate Forum," was focused on health care and security and was moderated by Judy Woodruff of PBS.'


Here are some of the responses from the blogosphere:

• Todd Beeton on MyDD AARP Debate Open Thread
• From Think On These Things: I Don’t Want To Hear Any More Grief About Obama Missing The AARP Debate… UNTIL there is also some grief and outrage about Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel not being allowed to participate. It’s a double standard. What’s up with that Democratic party? The Democrats are supposed to be the party of inclusion yet you’re not allowing your candidates to debate......
• The Council on Foreign Relations (A Nonpartisan Resource for Information and Analysis) posts transcripts of the debate in Iowa.....
• Kucinich Goes At PubTV Debate Exclusion posted at Rolas de Aztlan-KPFT Pacifica says:
  Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich said Iowa Democratic Party leaders and other groups aligned with the entrenched political power structure are “rigging the game in Iowa” by excluding him from two Presidential events this week....
• In other debate news: Lenora Fulani is calling for a community debate between Hillary and Obama at the Apollo in Harlem.... For video see HanksterTube!..... and for Fulani's press conference statement see BlackStarNews....
• For a cutting edge report on where the presidential candidates stand on inclusion of independents in the presidential debates, see Rock The Debates..... You won't be shocked, you won't be surprised, you'll feel downright villified....!