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http://www.azstarnet.com/opinion/151094.php
It's Catch-22 for candidates of 'other' parties Our view: If media and others dismiss them as not really in the race, how can they compete? Voters need to know them all.
Arizona's voters and members of the media must give Libertarians and other third-party candidates the opportunity to be heard. Democracy suffers if voters don't have the chance to become familiar with all candidates and give them due consideration for elective office.
It's a shame that more than 200 years into our democracy, minor-party candidates are marginalized and, sometimes, completely ignored.
For instance, during Tuesday night's gubernatorial debate at the University of Arizona, there were various references to "two candidates" and "two choices," alluding, of course, to Republican candidate Len Munsil and Democratic incumbent Janet Napolitano. But there was a third candidate on the stage that evening — Libertarian Barry Hess.
Sunday in Phoenix, meanwhile, there will be a debate between Senate candidates Jon Kyl, the Republican incumbent, and Democrat Jim Pederson. Some viewers will undoubtedly come to the conclusion that those are the only people running, oblivious to the fact that Libertarian Richard Mack has been left out of the affair.
Libertarians, Greens, independents and others often cannot fully get their message out because the public and media pay attention only to the two main parties.
"Democrats and Republicans often say that we 'take votes' from them, as if they owned those votes," Hess said. "It's a sad testament on American politics. It does a tremendous disservice to the public."
One such disservice is the debate being hosted Sunday at 4 p.m. by the CBS affiliate in Phoenix, KPHO, Channel 5. An official with the station said it was approached by the Kyl and Pederson campaigns to host the debate, but one of the conditions was that no third-party candidate (i.e. Mack) could participate.
Rather than stand up for democratic principles and tell the candidates to take their debate elsewhere, KPHO accepted the conditions and will leave Mack out of the picture. Instead, he'll be outside Sunday afternoon protesting his exclusion.
"I'm still upset that my opponents have colluded to shut me up," Mack said. "That's beyond hypocrisy for them to ask the people to vote for them when they manipulate the supposedly unbiased media and exclude a legitimate candidate."
Conversely, Tucson's PBS affiliate, KUAT, Channel 6, was offered the opportunity to host a senatorial debate under similar conditions, but KUAT did the right thing and didn't let others run the show.
On Friday, Kyl and Pederson waived the condition on third-party candidates and Mack will take part in the debate here on Wednesday.
Hess said Libertarians have always struggled to gain attention. He said newspapers commonly put stories about main-party candidates on front pages while burying stories on Libertarian candidates inside.
"We see a lot of bias in newspapers and television. That's where people get their political views and we often get iced out," Hess said.
Hess and Mack said polling companies also show bias by asking about Democrats and Republicans by name while throwing Libertarians into the group of "others." "People polled have to volunteer my name without being asked," Mack said.
Libertarians and "others" would garner more coverage and invitations to debates if they would start winning elections, of course. But candidates cannot win if they don't get attention, and their parties won't get attention if candidates don't win.
It's going to be a difficult cycle to break, but at the very least voters should take the time to get to know Libertarians, independents and candidates from other parties. The media, for their part, should invite everyone to the table.
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[LibertarianExchange] AZ Daily Star: It's Catch-22 for candidates of 'other' parties
Schlosser for Congress - Communications Sat, 14 Oct 2006 22:47:01 -0700
