Skip to main content

News Journal covers Delaware debate exclusions, quotes Scott Gesty

Where, I wonder, is any response from Ralph Begleiter or Michelline Boudreau defending their ridiculous position?

Anyway, here is the piece by John Starkey:

The University of Delaware and Delaware First Media have sent out invitations for planned October 16-17 debates in Newark ahead of the Nov. 6 general elections. Invited are this year’s U.S. House and Senate candidates, and the candidates for Lt. Gov and Governor.
But some candidates are crying foul over the eligibility requirements for those debates, which may leave some third-party candidates on the sidelines. Those requirements – eligible candidates must meet one – include being part of a major party or having polling from an “experienced” firm that shows at least 10 percent support. Full eligibility criteria are listed at the bottom of this post.
“To be invited, I’d have to raise $125,500 from 2,511 different donors, have already received 40,000 votes in a previous election, or pay thousands for a poll proving at least 10% of Delaware voters already support me,” said Scott Gesty, who is running for Delaware’s sole U.S. House seat as a Libertarian candidate.
James Bradford, campaign manager for U.S. Senate candidate Alex Pires, also called the requirements overly burdensome, though Pires’ campaign did pay Utah-based Quantel Research more than $9,000 to conduct polling before Pires formally entered the race. “We’re concerned that the criteria for this debate is designed to keep candidates like us out of the debate,” Bradford said.
The University of Delaware and DFM will host U.S. House and Senate debates beginning at 7 p.m. on Oct. 16 at UD’s Mitchell Hall, which was the setting for the 2010 Coons-O’Donnell debate moderated by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. Lt. Gov and gubernatorial candidates will debate at the same time on Oct. 17. Nancy Karibjanian, co-founder of DFM News, will moderate the debates, which will each last 60 minutes and include questions from students.
UD and DFM are standing behind the debate criteria, which they are based on well-established national guidelines, and are particularly stringent because the debate comes just a few weeks before the Nov. 6 vote.

Comments

Scott Gesty said…
It's all part of the plan to ensure the people of Delaware only hear the same tired messages from a two party system that long ago became a one party system. It's a shame that a few people can decide what the many get to hear or not hear.

Popular posts from this blog

The Obligatory Libertarian Tax Day Post

The most disturbing factoid that I learned on Tax Day was that the average American must now spend a full twenty-four hours filling out tax forms. That's three work days. Or, think of it this way: if you had to put in two hours per night after dinner to finish your taxes, that's two weeks (with Sundays off). I saw a talking head economics professor on some Philly TV channel pontificating about how Americans procrastinate. He was laughing. The IRS guy they interviewed actually said, "Tick, tick, tick." You have to wonder if Governor Ruth Ann Minner and her cohorts put in twenty-four hours pondering whether or not to give Kraft Foods $708,000 of our State taxes while demanding that school districts return $8-10 million each?

New Warfare: I started my posts with a discussion.....

.....on Unrestricted warfare . The US Air force Institute for National Security Studies have developed a reasonable systems approach to deter non-state violent actors who they label as NSVA's. It is an exceptionally important report if we want to deter violent extremism and other potential violent actors that could threaten this nation and its security. It is THE report our political officials should be listening to to shape policy so that we do not become excessive in using force against those who do not agree with policy and dispute it with reason and normal non-violent civil disobedience. This report, should be carefully read by everyone really concerned with protecting civil liberties while deterring violent terrorism and I recommend if you are a professional you send your recommendations via e-mail at the link above so that either 1.) additional safeguards to civil liberties are included, or 2.) additional viable strategies can be used. Finally, one can only hope that politici

More of This, Please

Or perhaps I should say, "Less of this one, please." Or how about just, "None of them. Ever again. Please....For the Love of God." Sunshine State Poll: Grayson In Trouble The latest Sunshine State/VSS poll shows controversial Democratic incumbent Alan Grayson trailing former state Senator Dan Webster by seven points, 43 percent to 36 percent. A majority of respondents -- 51 percent -- disapprove of the job that Grayson is doing. Independents have an unfavorable view of him as well, by a 36/47 margin. Grayson has ignored the conventional wisdom that a freshman should be a quiet member who carefully tends to the home fires. The latest controversy involves his " Taliban Dan " advertisement, where he explicitly compares his opponent to the Taliban, and shows a clip of Webster paraphrasing Ephesians 5:22 -- "wives, submit to your husbands." An unedited version of the clip shows that Webster was actually suggesting that husba