Had Jesse Ventura or Ross Perot been required to poll at 15 percent when running for office, they would not have been able to debate their contenders. This is one of the arguments put forward in a letter calling for open presidential debates this fall, sent today to the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) by a diverse group of opinion leaders — including Noam Chomsky, Edward Norton, Peter Coyote, Bonnie Raitt, Woody Harrelson, Anita Roddick, Rock the Vote and Granny D., the 90 year-old great grandmother who walked across the country for campaign finance reform.
Initiated by Rainforest Action Network President Randall Hayes and the Chairman of Earth Island Institute, David Brower, the letter calls for a broader debate to create a more healthy democracy. The two environmental leaders believe the most critical issues threatening the health of our planet, including meaningful campaign finance reform, will get short-changed if viable third-party candidates are excluded from the debates.
“Its not just people that suffer when less-funded voices are excluded, it’s Nature herself,” said Randy Hayes of the Rainforest Action Network. “We know we cannot save the rainforest or Earth without a more functional democracy.”
The letter points out that over 60 percent of the American people would like to see candidates other than just Vice President Gore and Governor Bush in the televised debates. It highlights the fact that participation by third-party candidates in the debates drastically raises public interest, viewership and voter turnout. It also points out that many of the larger campaign contributors–those backing the two parties in the debates–benefit from ignoring issues such as meaningful campaign finance reform, corporate-led globalization, the expanding prison/industrial complex, and the failed drug war.
Governor Ventura, who has said publicly he could not have won had he been excluded from the debates, spoke on Tuesday at a rally for campaign finance reform on the steps of the Capitol in Washington D.C. On Wednesday, Granny D. appeared with members of the Open Debate Society as they occupied the offices of Wagner Communications and Brewer Consulting Group, the only known address of the CPD. The activists were attempting to put a face on the name of the CPD, which is controlled by the Republican and Democratic parties and funded by big corporations such as Anheuser-Busch, 3 Com, and U.S. Airways. As the debates and elections approach, a growing number of organizations are putting the spotlight on the influence of private money in elections, with a disproportionate amount of contributions coming from big business.
Letter to the Debate Commission:
Janet Brown September, 2000 Commission
on Presidential Debates
1200 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Box 445
Washington, D.C. 20036
Dear Ms. Brown:
We are writing to express our deep concern around the planned exclusion of additional voices such as Green Party candidate Ralph Nader and Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan from the 2000 presidential debates. Participation by third-party candidates raises public interest, viewership and voter turnout. Truly, it is one sign of a healthy democracy.
Over 60% of the American people would like to see candidates other than Vice President Al Gore and Governor George Bush in the televised debates. Additionally, both Mr. Nader and Mr. Buchanan have polled at over 5%. This qualifies the Green Party for federal matching funds alongside the Reform Party if that percentage is sustained through Election Day. Yet the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) has determined candidates must receive 15% in the polls in order to participate. Under the same criteria, Ross Perot and Jesse Ventura would have been excluded when they were running for office.
The American people are ready to move beyond the current two-party system. This is because many of the issues we care most about — the expanding prison/industrial complex, the failed drug war, and corporate globalization — continue to be ignored by the two major parties. To a growing number of Americans, it does not appear coincidental that many of the larger campaign contributors benefit from ignoring such issues.
Candidates for the Office of President of the United States should be confident, if not eager, to debate other candidates. We ask that the CPD not only open the debates to Mr. Nader and Mr. Buchanan, but open up its own decision-making process to major third party representatives as well.
Sincerely,
Randall Hayes, President of Rainforest Action Network*
David Brower, Chairman of Earth Island Institute
Tom Ammiano, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Catherine Caufield, Writer
John Cavanagh, Institute for Policy Studies
Noam Chomsky, MIT
Jeff Cohen, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)
Peter Coyote, Actor & Author
Ronnie Dugger, Alliance for Democracy
Jodie Evans, We the People
Doris Haddock (Granny D.)
Dan Hamburg, Former Member of Congress
Woody Harrelson, Actor
Denis Hayes, Environmental Leader
Dr. Susanna Hecht, Professor, School of Public Policy and Social research,
UCLA
David Helvarg, Journalist
Independent Media Center
Bennett Johnston
Michael Kieschnick, Working Assets
David C. Korten, Author
Donella H. Meadows, Director, Sustainability Institute
Dan Merkle, Independent Media Center
John Moyers, TomPaine.com
Norman Myers, Oxford scientist
Gene Nichol, Dean, University of North Carolina Law School
Richard B. Norgaard, Professor of Energy and Resources, University of
California at Berkeley
Edward Norton, Actor
Danny O’Keefe, The Songbird Foundation
Bonnie Raitt, Musician
Jamin Raskin, Law Professor, American University
Mark Ritchie, President, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Rock the Vote
Anita Roddick O.B.E., Founder and Co-Chair, The Body Shop
Mike Roselle, Greenpeace
John Sellers, Executive Director, Ruckus Society
Adam Werbach, The Thin Green Line
* Organizational names and titles are for identification purposes only.
