As we come down to the wire for the Iowa Caucus, and polls are shifting, Congressman Dennis Kucinich has been excluded from tomorrow afternoon's Democratic presidential debate, sponsored by the Des Moines Register and Iowa Public Television.
The Des Moines Register stated today that the criteria for participation in the debate that Congressman Kucinich and Senator Mike Gravel did not meet was 1) candidates must have a campaign office in Iowa and 2) candidates must have employed at least one full time staffer in Iowa.
One problem with this criteria is that the candidates just found out about it! And legally, debate sponsors are required to give pre-existing, objective criteria for inclusion. How else can the candidates possibly work to meet the criteria, or challenge it, if not given notice of it?
The Iowa caucuses are on January 3, and all polls show the race being very close. Kucinich may not be a frontrunner, but he does have support in the state. This is exactly the time when Howard Dean and the Democratic Party are supposed to put partisan interests aside and let the people decide!! Here's what you can do: Contact the Des Moines Register and Howard Dean, chair of the Democratic National Committee, to let them know you protest the lack of democracy expressed by the exclusion of Kucinich and Gravel from tomorrow's debate.
Protest to Howard Dean - call the Democratic National Committee headquarters at 202-863-8000, or email Deanh@dnc.org;
Protest to Carolyn Washburn - moderator of the debate, and editor of the Des Moines Register-call her at 515-284-8502, or email cwashbur@dmreg.com;
Please copy The Hankster with your letters.
Tell the news media and the Democratic Party that independent voters protest their violations of democracy!
You can watch and listen to the debate at 2pm EST live on CNN, C-SPAN3, C-SPAN Radio, Fox News Channel and Fox News Radio. It will also be streamed live online at DesMoinesRegister.com and IPTV.org. Check your local listings for more information.
2 comments:
Kucinich is excluded from the Democratic Debate because his Iowa Field Director and State Coordinator, Marcos Rubinstein, works from home!?!
Thanks Tom -- will post this....
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