Action Alert: Iowa media excludes Dennis Kucinich from debate

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.

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....!

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• New Oregon Independent Party is state's fastest-growing (Statesman Journal)
• 1994 Redux: The Consequences of Dems' New NAFTA (David Sirota-Huffington Post)
• Clinton's Familiar Third Rail-AARP debate report (Washington Post)
• Schwarzenegger says independent voters are key (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE)
• Schwarzenegger tells GOP faithful to court independents (KGET - San Diego)
• Polls look bad for Kinky Dem run (Waco Tribune)
• Minnesota stands out in the Midwest for the strong showings third party candidates (Hometown Source)
• Ohio Court Ducks Issue of Who Can Circulate Petitions (Ballot Access News)