For my post this week, I decided to look at how the presidential debates are set up and why we only have the two frontrunners participating in tonight's debate. The Commission on Presidential Debates was cofounded by the two primary parties, Republican and Democrat, to manage the terms of televised discourse. According to debates.org "Under the CPD's non-partisan criteria, no candidate or nominee of a party receives an automatic invitation. The CPD's objective criteria are applied on the same basis to all declared candidates, regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof." The article I will mainly focus on from reason.com addresses how while this sounds good in theory, it ultimately doesn't benefit those candidates who aren't Republican or Democrat. Last October, they decided to "maintain as a participation threshold the unreasonably high average of 15 percent in national polls - a level no third-party candidate has attained in September of an election year since 1968."
It is designed in such a way that it's almost guaranteed to exclude any third party candidate. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee, is currently polling around 9% and will be on the ballot in all 50 states, but he has to resort to social media to be have a part in the debate that will take place tonight. He will be live-tweeting during the debate, which brings up another interesting point. Johnson is the highest-polling presidential outside since Ross Perot in 1992 and I think we can attribute much of that to his use of media. Johnson was able to receive a lot of attention for his "Dead Abe Lincoln" video last month. It still seems a bit twisted that he's excluded from the debate in person, but at the very least, now we have so much social media that's able to give him a voice when a commission won't.
The author, Matt Welch, believes that the following issues won't be taken seriously without Johnson's participation: the country's grim long-term fiscal outlook, federalism, trade, military interventionism, domestic surveillance, free speech, and prohibition. Welch says, "Remove the Libertarian and there goes fiscal sanity, federalism and free speech." I agree that we could benefit a lot from the alternative perspective that Gary Johnson would be able to offer in the debates, but I don't think it's fair to say that the issues won't be treated seriously due to his absence. We've all witnessed how much character bashing the two frontrunners use against their opponent while maintaining a very broad stance on issues that coincide with their political party, but I believe with how close we are to the election that Trump and Clinton will be a little smarter with their words. Welch also says, "In many important ways, there will be no adult on stage." Trump is known for his unpredictability and Clinton has made quite a few childish references and jokes in an attempt to win over a younger demographic. We can guess what will take place tonight, but we'll ultimately just have to wait to see.
I definitely think change needs to happen so that we include more candidates in the presidential debates. As someone who does not identify with any political party, I feel that I could benefit greatly from a more inclusive debate. Most of my social group says they will vote for one candidate because they do not want the other to win, but maybe if there were more candidates in the debate, people would actually find someone they would like to represent them. The CPD has a goal of voter education, but I agree with Welch that this goal will not be met without including Johnson, and possibly other third party candidates.
I like your post because I had never even thought about the third party candidates being excluded from the debate. Now that you have brought it to my attention, I think that it is completely unfair. Third party candidates deserve to have a national platform, like the debate, at their disposal, rather than just social media. I would really like to hear/see how they stack up directly against Trump and Clinton. Most people have little to no knowledge about third party candidates and/or what they stand for. Nobody can make a 100% educated decision on who to vote for if only two candidates get to participate in the debate.
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