Dear Mr. Lewis,
Thank you for a response to our inquiry regarding the debate your television station is hosting on March 24th for two of three candidates on the ballot this special election.
As a libertarian I fully recognize your right to invite and include anybody whom you see fit to these events based on your in alienable right to private property. I do feel your station is doing a disservice to the public and your customers by excluding our campaign.
Please note that the Commission on Presidential Debates has a threshold of 15% in order to be included in their debates, not five percent. It should also be noted that your standard renders any candidate on the current ballot unable to attend your debate based on the previous election results. By this logic, it is possible to have an independent candidate who is polling 100% currently, not to be included in your debates based on this criteria.
Sincerely,
Eric Sundwall
I just spent almost 18 minutes speaking with Mr. Lewis. I spoke with him in a calm, even and logical tone and made sure that i spoke respectfully to him. He said that if the Sienna poll gave Eric a better showing then WNYT might reconsider including.
His main point sounded like this: "If Eric had a chance of winning, we might include him" to which i replied "If you don't give him any chance to debate, he doesn't have a chance of getting his message out and therefore can't win." He likened this to the age old "chicken/egg" debate, which is fair.
But i would challenge supporters of Eric to contact him, speak with him respectfully, and leave it at that. I tried to tell him how interesting it would be if Eric was included, therefore WNYT would be in the forefront of political openness for third party candidates.
It sounded more like politics were a commodity for Mr. Lewis, rather than real life, but that's one fat guys opinion.
John,
It's interesting to note that even at 5% one would think I didn't have a chance . . . thus a very slippery standard indeed. The internal DCCC poll had us at 4% and Mr. Lewis' own Mark Mulholland even called me a factor when he interviewed me last week. Everyone that talks to me about their polling experience always tells me that they have to struggle to get us acknowledged. Given that Siena polled only about 700 people and we collected 7000 signatures, you'd also think that would carry some weight, after all, if only 100K people show up for this one, that 7K figure represents 7% of that number. Think about it . . .
There should be two bottom lines at play here.
1. The fact that we're on the ballot.
2. Ultimately, the voters make the choice, not any one else.
As you can see, us third parties are up against this institutionalized thinking all the time. I'm quite used to it and expect and accept it. Doesn't mean I won't fight it.
I certainly appreciate everyone's ardent and vocal support. In the event WNYT proceeds with this one without us, we'll plan a protest outside the studio, for which we will invite the other news stations. Stay tuned.
- Eric