Kucinich left out of debate

[redfang]

I must say, that I am upset that Dennis Kucinich had his invitation to the recent Nevada Democratic debate on MSNBC rescinded. He sued to be included, won, then had the verdict overturned by the Nevada supreme court. Even though he is my favorite candidate, I realize that he has no real chance at victory. Even so, he is a legitimate candidate, and the only Democratic candidate who doesn't simply repackage what all of the others are saying. He deserves to be heard, even if only to try and keep the others honest.

 

[mrhnau]

I think that after a while you need to have a certain threshold of support in order to be included in debates of that type. I'd be a little perturbed if the debates later this year would include every little party out there... Communist, Green, Socialist, Libertarian, and whatever other party can muster enough signatures to appear on a ballot. After this much time, if Kucinich is still mustering less than 5%, his odds of success are minimal. He was already in a few televised debates and was not able to get support, so...

honestly, the amount of candidates this cycle was a bit wild. Some I never even heard of before!

 

[Andrew Green]

I think the issue is not that he didn't get invited, he did. But they later changed the rules and took back the invitation.

Ron Paul getting consistantly left out is just as bad, because he's also been consistantly beating candidates that are included.

Neither look like they got much of a shot though.

 

[redfang]

I think that after a while you need to have a certain threshold of support in order to be included in debates of that type. I'd be a little perturbed if the debates later this year would include every little party out there... Communist, Green, Socialist, Libertarian, and whatever other party can muster enough signatures to appear on a ballot. After this much time, if Kucinich is still mustering less than 5%, his odds of success are minimal. He was already in a few televised debates and was not able to get support, so...

honestly, the amount of candidates this cycle was a bit wild. Some I never even heard of before!

I would not expect a socialist or communist candidate to be included in a democratic debate. But Dennis Kucinich is a legitimate democratic candidate, long-time congressman and member in good standing of the party since his mayoral days in the 70's.

 

[michaeledward]

It may not be news elsewhere, but Dennis Kucinich has asked for, and is receiving, a hand recount of all the Democratic ballots cast in the State of New Hampshire. This recount is coming at no small cost to the Kucinich campaign (so far, I understand he has put up some $25,000.00).

There were some unusual facts with the New Hampshire Democratic ballots. Hand counted ballots favored Senator Obama by 52%. The Diebold machine counted ballots favored Senator Clinton by 52%. (Actually, the vote tallies were exactly reversed, to the second decimal place, between Obama and Clinton).

Mr. Kucinich is a fine American, and deserves better treatment than he receives from the media, and the public.

Also, a Republican Candidate for President, a Mr. Howard, from Arizona, is also requesting a hand recount of the Republican ballots cast in New Hampshire. And he, too, has ponied up the cash required for the recount.

 

[FearlessFreep]

Neither look like they got much of a shot though.

This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. They don't get coverage because they are not electable... then they are not electable because they don't get coverage.

If Ron Paul's views on say, foreign affairs or federalism got half the attention of Hillary and Obama's silliness over who made remarks that in some obscure knee-jerk way may be construed as sorta racist, the he would be electable. But he will never get that coverage because he was deemed from the outset as 'not electable'.

The party bosses and the media decide who you get to vote for

 

[Andrew Green]

The party bosses and the media decide who you get to vote for

Yup.

 

[tellner]

Fearless Freep has hit the nail on the head.

Kucinich represents a point of view that make the K-street crowd and the DLC uncomfortable. So he's marginalized, ridiculed and kept away from the public.

 

[Makalakumu]

Same with Ron Paul. The people who are hell bent on using the government to strip away our civil liberties and steal our money to line corporate pockets fear him.