That is silly. There is no way 47"equal" candidates would ever get on the ballot in all 50 states. If a candidate has the numeric possibility of winning (i.e. on enough state ballots) then he/she should be included.

I would settle for giving the debates back over to the league of womens voters. At least they were fair. The so called 'commission on presidential debates' is nothing but a group of partisan hacks. Their specific purpose is to prevent another 'Perot event.'

The debates are nothing but a free corporate donation in the form of an infomercial.

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The law perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it! The law, I say, not only turned from its proper purpose but made to follow an entirely contrary purpose! The law become the weapon of every kind of greed! Instead of checking crime, the law itself guilty of the evils it is supposed to punish! - Frederick Bastiat

Indeed that was me, so, I will amend/retract my former statements.

So, then, what accounts for the difference in inclusion between Barr/Paul and Perot? Assuming everyone qualified for matching funds, etc., howcome neither I, nor anyone I know here has ever seen a single Barr or Paul commercial? I think I've seen maybe five Paul signs, total, and not one for Barr. If someone gets matching taxpayer funds and gains access to expensive TV debate time, thats not a small amount, and they'd better be able to win.

I guess what I am getting at is that it's not entirely fair to claim conspiracy and bias if there wasn't any serious effort. The answer that the major parties are "scared" to include other, credible candidates seems rather weak.

Granted, it's a bit of a catch-22, but I can't see this changing unless these parties start consistently polling higher, and force the issue. The media's simply not going to give expensive debate airtime to a 6% chance.

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"Oh, bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round...

Of course it's silly. But the point is 3rd party candidates want the money and access first, then the credibility, but they don't gain credibility unless they have the access/money. Catch-22.

So, which should come first? I don't want any old doofus with an axe to grind to easily qualify to waste everyone's time.

Now, there's an idea. Fresh blood is rarely a bad thing.

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"Oh, bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round...

Remove the money and leave it to 'the people.' We are talking about tens of millions of dollars involved here....In '04 it was 80 million. There are no figures for this year yet, but I would presume it to be over 100 million.

I should not have to contribute to political orginanizations that I find morally repugnant. There is no constitutional authority for congress to give our money to their political organizations. None.

Her is what the leage of women voters said about the issue at the time (Oct 1988):

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The law perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it! The law, I say, not only turned from its proper purpose but made to follow an entirely contrary purpose! The law become the weapon of every kind of greed! Instead of checking crime, the law itself guilty of the evils it is supposed to punish! - Frederick Bastiat

Wouldn't that be nice? Actually, I think campaigning should be limited to January - November of the year of the election. Limit the money spent, limit the time.

Oh, and these Senators need to designate a replacement to do actual work in Washington while they gallivant around gladhanding.....

Again, wouldn't that be nice? I don't particularly like my taxes going to build more unnecessary, mothballed aircraft, or to dissappear into thin air over in Iraq, but, whatcha gonna do? Can't control where the money goes.

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"Oh, bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round...

Banning tax monies being used for political party expenditures would be only a start. Trying to limit 'campagining' would be very problematic. It flies in the face of the first amendment.

Well....I would prefer if we just cut the AC off in May. Mother nature would take its course.

We can control where the money goes. It just takes pressure in the right places.

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The law perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it! The law, I say, not only turned from its proper purpose but made to follow an entirely contrary purpose! The law become the weapon of every kind of greed! Instead of checking crime, the law itself guilty of the evils it is supposed to punish! - Frederick Bastiat

Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Nope, I don't see anything in there that says we can't limit campaigns to a reasonable, cheaper length at all. Not a thing about Presidential campaigns in the above, whatsoever, unless you want to take the broadest possible reading, which would be quite unlike you.....

Something's fundamentally wrong when people spend more time campaiging than doing the actual job. I don't think that's a good message to send about how a democracy should work. I think we've gotten to the point of having 2-3 year campaigns now, which is just ridiculous. At some point, this endless crap becomes detrimental to the nation.

Also, I don't think O or Mc should be drawing a salary while out fooling around, either, but that's another topic.

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"Oh, bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round...

There you go.

What 'job' do you want them to do? Every time they pass a law, they chip away at your freedoms.

I have no issue with this concept. Of course, I would like to see them all get paid minimum wage while they 'serve' the nation.

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The law perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it! The law, I say, not only turned from its proper purpose but made to follow an entirely contrary purpose! The law become the weapon of every kind of greed! Instead of checking crime, the law itself guilty of the evils it is supposed to punish! - Frederick Bastiat

Again, that's a very, very broad thing. And, I thought you'd be more of a literalist, anyway.

Tsk, tsk, and I thought I was cynical.

All I know is, I can't tell my boss I want to go tour the country for a few years, expect to still get paid, and if things don't work out, expect my job to be there waiting for me.

For the economic and mental sanity of the nation, I would be in favor of a one year campaign season.

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"Oh, bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round...

To make any real changes, people first need a cultural shift to get away from the myth of American exceptionalism and the Big Lie of domestic politics. Then they need to reconstruct the political system from the ground up.