Libertarian Party of NY -- Press Release -- Clifton Demands League of Women Voters Include all Candidates in the Debates

Clifton Demands League of Women Voters Include all Candidates in the Debates

CLIFTON DEMANDS LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS INCLUDE ALL CANDIDATES IN THE DEBATES

New Paltz, NY 8/15/06: "Are minor party candidates being quietly excluded from the fall debates, by not being asked to participate?" asks Libertarian candidate for Governor John Clifton. In response to his (and other minor parties) not being officially notified of the announced debate schedule, Clifton is formally requesting inclusion in the fall candidate debates sponsored by the League of Women Voters of New York (LWVNY), in order to find out. Libertarian candidate for Attorney General Chris Garvey has also formally requested inclusion.

The entire slate of Libertarian statewide candidates are expected to be on the fall ballot following the conclusion of the petition drive ending on August 22. "I smell a two-party rat," says Clifton. "The standard for the debates should be, is the candidate on the ballot? I had to learn of the schedule from third hand sources. The Libertarian Party has long-established a strong "modicum of support" in this state through consistently achieving ballot status over the past 30 years. There is no reason why myself or the party should not have been at least informally contacted by LWVNY."

Should LWVNY not include all candidates, Clifton and other Libertarians are encouraging the media to hold independent debates, such as ones offered by Alan Chartock (who interviewed Clifton in July on WAMC's Capital Connections) and other alternative media forums. Clifton says "effectively, the LWVNY, Commission on Presidential Debates, et al, often simply act as an pseudo-official front to exclude minor party candidates. They exist to take the flack for excluding that properly should be directed at the Democrats and Republicans."

"Instead of launching fruitless attempts to reverse any 'official' exclusion, we should challenge the DemGOP masters (Spitzer and Faso) to debates outside of the auspices of LWVNY. There is nothing stopping Chartock and other media from promoting non-LWV debates with all candidates." Clifton is also interested in holding third party debates with the Green Party candidate for Governor, similar to one held between Presidential candidates Badnarik and Cobb in New York in 2004.

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