- Debates
« Our
America Initiative Lawsuit
For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
This release is online at http://www.gp.org/newsroom/press-releases/details/4/797
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator
Green Party, 2012 Green presidential nominees are among the plaintiffs in the "Our America Initiative" law suit against the Commission on Presidential Debates
• The law suit aims to end private
control over presidential debates by the Democratic and Republican
parties
• Video: "Commission on Presidential
Debates -- Time to Change" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gD4TQLyMDw
WASHINGTON,
D.C. -- The Green Party leaders expressed strong support for the "Our
America Initiative" law suit and initiatives of the Free and Equal
Elections Foundation (https://www.freeandequal.org)
against the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). The Green Party
and Libertarian Party are among several plaintiffs in the suit.
The law suit (http://www.fairdebates.com)
would end private control over presidential debates by the Democratic
and Republican parties, which took over the debates from the League of
Women Voters in 1987 in order to exclude other parties' candidates and
independents and to manipulate the format of the debates for their own
benefit. The CPD is a private firm founded by the two parties.
Other
plaintiffs in the law suit include the Green Party's 2012 national
nominees, Jill Stein and running mate Cheri Honkala, and presidential
and vice-presidential nominees from the Libertarian Party and Justice
Party (http://www.jill2016.com/presidential_debates ).
"The
CPD is funded by corporations that have an interest in restricting the
presidential debates to the nominees of political parties that are
awash in corporate contributions and influence. Fair debates would
include all presidential candidates who are on enough state ballots to
win, if enough people voted for them," said Audrey Clement, co-chair of
the Green Party of the United States.
"Greens
urge the major media to recognize that the CPD debates represent an
attempt to limit voters' choice of candidates and restrict the range of
discussion about important issues. We encourage the media to host
inclusive debates outside of the CPD's control. Americans deserve the
right to learn about all the candidates who'll be on the ballot, and to
vote for a candidate who best represents their interests and ideals
without being told that only two candidates are legitimate," said Ms.
Clement.
In 2012, the Free and Equal Elections
Foundation sponsored a debate on October 23, 2012 featuring four
alternative-party presidential candidates: Dr. Stein (Green Party),
Gov. Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party), Virgil Goode (Constitution
Party), and Rocky Anderson (Justice Party). The debate was moderated by
Larry King and Christina Tobin and aired on RT TV, Al-Jazeera, and
C-SPAN.
"Apologists for the status quo like to
say that there's something natural and inevitable about a political
system limited to two parties. In reality, Democratic and Republican
politicians have rigged elections with anti-democratic state laws that
privilege their own candidates and obstruct other parties. The takeover
of the presidential debates by the CPD shows the same bipartisan
collusion," said Karen Young, co-chair of the Green Party.
"It's
time to end this exercise in blatant corruption. Any 'natural' tendency
of our winner-take-all at-large elections towards a two-party political
field can be corrected with reforms like Instant Runoff Voting and
Proportional Representation," said Ms. Young.
Green
Party leaders noted that the best ideas and reforms in U.S. history
have come from alternative parties, and said that an independent
progressive leadership is imperative in a century in which the two
"war-and-Wall-Street parties" are leading America in dangerous
directions.
"The legacy of third parties in
the U.S. includes abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, the
eight-hour workday, workers’ benefits, public schools, unemployment
compensation, the minimum wage, child labor laws, direct election of
senators, and programs like Social Security and Medicare. All of these
were introduced by third parties and adopted later by one or both of
the major parties. The near-disappearance of third parties on the left
in the second half of the 20th century is one of the great unmentioned
reasons for the triumph of the right wing in both major parties."
("Hillary Won't Save Us, Neither Will Bernie or Liz," by Scott McLarty,
OpEdNews.com, April 13, http://tinyurl.com/koo89n2)
See also:
Green Party joins the Our America Initiative to sue Commission on
Presidential Debates
Our America Initiative
Secret Control of the Presidential Debates
Project Censored: The News That Didn't Make The News
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