On Oct. 8, while two presidential candidates were hoping to get in a few more sound bytes than their opponent, two other presidential candidates were arrested outside. Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian candidate, and David Cobb, the Green Party candidate, were attempting to serve a court order to show cause for excluding the candidates to the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD).
The commission receives federal funding as a nonpartisan organization to sponsor the nationally televised debates covered by the largest media outlets. But being a bipartisan organization does not make it nonpartisan. And the federal funding behind it doesn't make it any more fair. It is clear by these acts that the reason third parties don't stand a chance in national politics because organizations such as the CPD don't care to be fair.
It's no small task to become a national candidate for the president of the United States. Badnarik is on the ballot in 48 states and Washington, D.C. (The others two states are being argued in court.) This amounts to amazing sums of petitioning and countless hours of campaigning, all on a shoestring budget that isn't funded by the federal government like the other major parties. In a system that is so difficult to break into without major party support or federal funding, this accomplishment is simply astounding. So why should third-party candidates be excluded from the debates? They certainly have earned it.
Similarly, the AU College Libertarians were excluded from last week's SIS debate on foreign policy, while the other two political clubs on campus were invited to participate. In a debate that isn't nearly as important and systematic as the presidential debates, inclusion in this debate would have been relatively simple. But apparently having a vocal, engaging political club on campus that has been participating in similar debates for three years isn't enough.
It is commonly understood that both major parties are proponents of free speech and open, equal exchange of ideas. It is for this reason that I would sincerely hope that both of the other campus groups would gladly work to include the AU College Libertarians in future debates, whether they agree with their ideas or not.
People often dismiss third parties as "out of the mainstream" because, well, they are out of the mainstream. But rarely do we find a person willing to explore third parties' views and give them a chance. Just because third parties don't follow the majority doesn't make their arguments any less valid or less reasonable. People often say that third parties don't stand a chance. But often this is because nobody is willing to give them a chance.
Jeffrey Buras is a freshman in the School of Communication.
