CNN has invited Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, Jim Webb, and Lincoln Chafee to debate the issues important to Democrats -- but Harvard Law Professor, and legitimate presidential candidate, Lawrence Lessig was not invited.
Why wasn't he invited? CNN will tell you its because he does very poorly in the polls. So what? O'Malley, Webb, and Chafee also do very poorly in the polls (sometimes failing to get even 1%), and yet they were invited. And Lessig has raised a million dollars for his campaign -- significantly more than either Webb or Chafee.
I can understand why CNN (and Fox) limited the number of candidates on the big stage for the Republican debate. Putting all 17 on the stage at the same time would have made the debate too ridiculous -- giving no candidate enough time to explain his position. They limited the number to 10 (11 in the CNN debate), but made up for it by holding a second debate for those left out of the big debate.
But that's not happening here. There are only six Democratic candidates, and there's no justifiable reason for leaving out any of the six. If CNN could handle 11 Republican candidates on the stage, then they certainly should be able to handle six Democrats debating. That is just fair (especially since there is not a second debate being held).
Evidently fairness is not important to CNN. Instead, they see themselves as some kind of gatekeeper, whose duty is to tell the American public who is a serious candidate and who is not. And in doing that, they have abandoned their own mission and subverted the job of the party members. It is up to Democrats to decide who is a viable candidate -- not CNN. It is CNN's job just to provide the information voters need to make an informed vote -- and leaving a candidate out of the debate is failing to do that job.
There's no other way to say it -- CNN was wrong to not invite Professor Lessig to debate.
(The caricature of Lawrence Lessig above is by DonkeyHotey.)
Finally something I can agree with (besides all the cartoons and memes, that is). Did you know they have an extra lectern in bubblewrap waiting for Biden in case he changes his mind at the last minute?
ReplyDelete(Wasserman-Schultz cannot even bring herself to say Bernie Sanders' name. Shameful.)
Lessig's Catch-22 is that his name is rarely included in the polling, which is why he he polls insignificantly. He's thinking about an independent run for president as a result. I hope the Justice Party recruits them as their candidate, personally.
I'd much rather hear him than Chafee or Webb.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Why are we acting like Republicans, picking and choosing? Fortunately, there really is room for all on the Democratic stage.
ReplyDelete