Click To ElargeCT LWV Say CT Libertarians Not Legit
Greens Can Go To .....
CT LWV Excludes The Only Two Political Parties Who Warned Us That It Was A Big Mistake To Go Into Iraq
4,186 Families Probably Wish That We Had Heard More From These Two Parties And Their Candidates
In A Time Of War We Need To Hear From All Voices.
Incumbent Congressman Christopher Shays (R-4) and his Democratic challenger, Cos Cob resident Jim Himes, have finished up their debate schedule and are looking ahead to Nov. 4, but two major third-party candidates were on the outside looking in.
Neither Richard Duffee, nominee for the Green Party, nor Michael Carrano, nominee for the Libertarian Party, were invited to participate in the debates. Organizers said they didn’t meet the criteria for inclusion and Mr. Duffee is crying foul.
“I’m convinced these debate organizers reached a decision before considering any of the evidence,” Mr. Duffee said in an interview with the Post on Tuesday. “They had the decision made before we even applied to be in a debate. They made that decision based on party and not on the individual. They decided that only Republicans and Democrats should be able to debate.”
The third-party candidates were not invited to appear in the series of League of Women Voters’ debates in the district. State league president Jara Burnett, a Riverside resident, said that while Mr. Duffee and Mr. Carrano did meet the requirement that the candidate be on the ballot, they did not meet the other criteria for inclusion, including broad voter support, sufficient money, and evidence of a campaign being waged, such as having a headquarters, volunteers, position papers, and participation in candidate forums......
....Ms. Burnett said fund raising was also a factor, citing the league’s decision in 2006 to allow Libertarian Party nominee Phil Maymin to participate after he raised $40,000.....
...Richard Lion, chairman of the Connecticut Libertarian Party, told the Post he thinks the standards for third parties are unreasonably high.
“I think it hurts the voting public,” Mr. Lion said. “We go through so much getting the signatures on petitions to actually get on the ballot and then we get shut out of the debates. It’s like you’re running a race and they tell you the established runners have to run a mile and everyone else has to run 10.”.....
....“In the past we’ve had third-party candidates, but this year we wanted to focus on one of the two who will win,” Mr. McGee told the Post. “Since we only had a 60-minute format for this debate, we wanted to give them as much time as possible to debate each other and make their positions clear.”
Mr. McGee said Mr. Duffee and Mr. Carrano don’t have much of a chance of influencing the race, unlike in 2006, when Mr. Maymin had the opportunity to upset the vote. Mr. McGee said he doesn’t think the third-party candidates will do that this year.
Mr. Duffee did attend the Monday debate, sitting in the audience and then passing out his literature after it was over. Mr. McGee said he understands why Mr. Duffee is disappointed in the council’s decision, but he feels it is best for voters.
“While he’s got a constitutional right to be on the ballot, this is a private organization and we wanted to focus on the two candidates,” Mr. McGee said.
Ms. Burnett said there will be participation from Mr. Duffee in other league efforts, including an electronic voter’s guide and a printed guide distributed a week before the election.
Comment:
Shame, Shame, Shame On CT LWV
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