Third party candidates vie for spot in debates

  The Associated Press Green Party presidential candidate
Ralph Nader speaks in Las Vegas on Sept. 15.

By David Drucker
Daily Bruin Reporter

Ending the two major political parties’ debate over the
presidential debates, GOP nominee George W. Bush and his Democratic
rival Al Gore agreed to three duels, beginning Oct. 3 in
Boston.

The debate continues, though, for third parties making a run at
the White House but who have yet to register the 15 percent polling
support necessary for an invitation to the Commission On
Presidential Debates’ sponsored faceoffs.

“There are a variety of things that make it difficult for
third parties to break into the system,” said School of
Public Policy and Social Research Professor Mark Peterson, who
follows the presidency and political interest groups.

“The financing mechanisms that fuel political parties
favor those that have been in power in the past.”

In an effort to overcome the stronghold enjoyed by the two-party
system since the election of 1800, third parties are anxious to get
their candidates the coverage afforded by the debates

“Let’s not forget the Jesse Ventura factor,”
said Nader 2000 California spokesman Ross Mirkarimi, referring to
Independent Gov. Jesse Ventura’s rise in the polls following
his participation in the 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial debates.

“He began the debates with 8 percent support and shot up
immediately afterward,” he said.

Even people active in the political mainstream concede that the
process isn’t entirely fair.

“I believe the debates should be open for all sides so
that people can hear different ideas,” Bruin Democrats
President Melanie Ho said. “Unfortunately, our media focus on
the two major parties; in many cases just because it’s
easier.”

But the COPD sees their purpose differently.

  The Associated Press Libertarian party candidate Harry
Browne discusses issues.

“The idea is to provide the public with an opportunity to
see the leading candidates and shed light on who they really
are,” said COPD media director John Scardino.
“It’s impossible to do that on a stage with multiple
candidates who have no real chance of winning in November.

“We hold the debates far enough along in the campaign that
if a party doesn’t have a certain amount of support by then
it’s indicative of whether or not they should be
included,” he said.

In the aftermath of Reform Party hopeful Ross Perot’s 19
percent showing in the 1992 presidential race, and then-Reform
candidate Ventura’s victory in 1998, smaller parties see the
debates as their ticket to mainstream support.

The Greens and the Libertarians, two parties that consistently
hover around 1 to 5 percent in the polls, specifically credit
participation in the debates for creating Reform’s
success.

They insist that in spite of their low poll results, their
existing base of support warrants inclusion in next months
debates.

“The barrier for participation should be, “˜Do you
have a mathematical possibility to get elected?'” said
Jim Babka, press secretary for Libertarian candidate Harry
Browne.

“We spent $750 thousand to put ourselves on the ballot in
all 50 states, and have passed that test,” he added.

Ho said although the 15 percent polling support requirement is
somewhat random, some reasonable standard for inclusion should
exist.

“The number the COPD has chosen looks kind of
arbitrary,” she said. “But if they didn’t require
some level of support, you could conceivably end up with 50 parties
with the right to debate.”

Scardino, who said the 15 percent level is a holdover from the
League of Women Voters sponsored debates occurring from the 1976
through the 1988 campaigns, doesn’t see a problem.

“If we hosted these debates several months earlier, third
party candidates might have valid concerns,” he said.
“But the reason we hold the debates this late in the campaign
is so the marketplace of ideas can determine their
viability.”

Scardino added that the Ventura election, lauded by third
parties as an example of what’s possible, is not an accurate
one.

“Hypothetically, it’s not a valid comparison,
because in Minnesota, voters can register on election day, and that
makes a big difference in the electoral process,” he
said.

The national elections require 30 day advance registration.

But Mirkarimi, more than just disagrees with the policy of the
GOP and Democratic-run non-profit COPD.

“It’s deliberately designed to dissuade the
existence of third parties altogether,” he said.

“The tricky and insidious aspect of this whole thing is
that this commission is non-binding and not accountable to anybody,
so they can do as they please,” Mirkarimi added.

Babka agreed, saying the debates are essential for any candidate
who wants national media coverage.

“There’s no independent or third party
representation on their committee,” he said. “The
message they’re sending is that these parties are
irrelevant.”

In spite of third parties’ obscurity, and though they say
Republicans and Democrats have become an ideologically similar
entity, Peterson said their efforts are not wasted.

“In every election, there are complaints by other parties
that the two major parties control the system,” he said.
“But anytime an outside party poses a threat, their ideas are
incorporated into one of the platforms of the two.

“So even though they don’t succeed in a substantive
way, they can succeed ideologically,” Peterson added.