TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• About Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel being excluded from Dem afternoon delight debate yesterday, a few major papers made note of it by saying that they didn't fit the criteria, some blogs made note of it and added the comment "not sure why Allen Keyes was included in the Repub debate since he didn't meet that criteria either...." Here is some of the "coverage", and mind you the only real protest concerning democracy issues was a letter to the Des Moines Register: Leaving candidates out of debate compromises democracy (LETTER Des Moines Register)
• Kucinich press release on exclusion (OpEdNews) It seems that the Cleveland Plain Dealer doesn't like Kucinich....
• Keyes in, Kucinich out of Iowa debates (Boston Globe)
• Thursday’s political round-up-excerpt on exclusion of Kucinich (The Carpetbagger Report)
• 2 Democrats excluded from debate but Keyes allowed to take part (WCCO - MN)
• The networks and the debates (mediabistro.com)
• Kucinich fans wanted him in debate (Des Moines Register)

• There are 34 candidates on the New Hampshire ballot-- some spoke at the Manchester Community Access Media broadcast the forum, which will be aired on C-SPAN. (New Hampshire Union Leader)
• Matt Bai has a new blog on the NY Times' The Caucus called The Primary Argument
• There's a noticeable shift among black voters in South Carolina from Clinton to Obama (Wall Street Journal) and while the Washington Times calculates the Oprah Factor, it's a little known fact that Wayne Griffin and other independents in S.C. are organizing voters to challenge politics as usual

• Interesting roundup of blogs on National Journal The Hotline ...Markos Moulitsas, with the political instincts of a 15 year old hounddog, says: "I voted 'Obama' this time, not necessarily because I support him, but because the alternatives are no good. ..... "

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.