Third-party Candidates: Their names are on the ballot, but supporters say they have been excluded

Ed Enoch
Staff Writer
Published: October 19, 2008

The AU Libertarians did well in a college debate against Democrats and Republicans Thursday night on Auburn’s campus.

Elizabeth Gentry, a senior in bio-medical sciences and president of the AU Libertarians, said her party received lots of support from the audience during the townhall-style debate.

“Given an equal playing ground, many third-party candidates will come out on top because they can supply real answers and not just political jargon,” Gentry said.

While Gentry represented Libertarians locally, third-party candidates have been left off the national debate stage.

The frustration of exclusion is something Gentry and other third-party supporters in Alabama have come to expect.

This year, three independent tickets are on the Alabama ballot: Chuck Baldwin and Darrell L. Castle, Constitution Party; Bob Barr and Wayne Root, Libertarian party; and Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez.

Independents represent about 3 percent of registered voters in Alabama, said David Sears, a regional coordinator in the state for Ralph Nader’s 2008 presidential campaign.

The problems for independent candidates begin with the national debate sponsors, the Commission on Presidential Debates, according to Sears.

“We’re kept pretty much in the dark,” Sears said.

The commission, founded in 1987, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan corporation dedicated to providing debates between presidential candidates and their running mates for the voting public, according to the commission’s Web site.

To be part of the debates, a candidate must meet the Constitutional requirements for a presidential run and “have his/her name appear on enough state ballots to have at least a mathematical chance of securing an Electoral College majority,” as well as poll an average of 15 percent support in five selected national public opinion polling organizations, according to the commission’s Web site, http://www.debates.org.

Third-party supporters allege the commission is partisan and the requirements beyond those outlined in the Constitution exclude independent voices from the debates.

Mike Rster, vice chairman of Libertarian Party of Alabama, pointed to the partisan affiliations of the commission’s leadership.

“Half Republicans, half Democrats - essentially, they try to jockey and put their candidates in the best light possible,” he said.

Paul G. Kirk, Jr., one of the current co-chairs of the commission, is a former DNC chairman and co-chairman Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr. is a former RNC chairman.

Richard Rutledge, vice chairman of the Constitution Party of Alabama, claimed Democrats and Republicans rely on the eligibility requirements.

“These walls were set intentionally,” he said. “They are designed to censor third parties out of the process.”

Rster said the public is robbed of real discussion the candidates ability to decide rules and topics.

“When you have a debate, you can’t have the participants make the rules,” he said.

This is why a third-party voice is important, according to Rutledge. The current political reality is something Rster, Rutledge and Sears agree the country’s founders warned against.

“Bottom line, the founding fathers warned consistently that we should not allow a two-party system to develop and lock others out,” Rutledge said.

Rster sees parallels to elections in the USSR and the illusion of a democratic system. Voters got to participate, he said, but candidates were chosen by the party.

“One of the biggest gauges you can have as to how truly democratic a system is, is how open it is to allowing new participants in the political arena,” he said.

New participants can mean new ideas.

“We need all the ideas and all the ideologies at the table and let the people decide,” Rutledge said.

None believe past claims that third-party candidates are election stealers - or calls to vote for someone who has a chance at winning.

“If you follow the logic out, that means your vote is either a Republican vote or a Democratic vote,” Rster said.

Voters shouldn’t have to compromise.

“You’re voting for someone, let’s say 95 percent of the time represents where you stand,” Rster said. “Your vote matters. On the other hand, when you are voting for someone who is the lesser of two evils, you’re not voting for your conscience.”

Sears said he isn’t naive.

“We pretty much know Ralph doesn’t have a chance,” he said.

But that’s not the point.

“He is the peoples’ voice - not for one party,” he said. “If we could get what we want out there, I could promise you people would start voting independent,” he said.

For that to happen, third-party candidates need to be included.

“If we have a candidate on the national stage, that candidate should be brought to the table. If you got a candidate that’s on the ballot in three quarters of the states, don’t they (voters) deserve the opportunity to hear in a public forum what this candidate has to say?” Rutledge said. “Doesn’t the candidate deserve the right?”

Third Party Basics
Constitution Party:
Ticket: Presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin and vice presidential candidate Darrell L. Castle
What they believe: “Pro-Life; pro-states’ rights; pro-second amendment; pro-constitutional, limited government; against illegal immigration and open borders; against U.S. policy being dictated by the United Nations; against undeclared unconstitutional wars (such as Iraq and Afghanistan); against free trade and all international trade agreements such as NAFTA & GATT.”
Source: Constitution Party Web site, http://www.constitutionparty.com

Libertarian Party:
Ticket: Presidential candidate Bob Barr and Vice presidential candidate Wayne Root
What they believe: “Libertarians believe the answer to America’s political problems is the same commitment to freedom that earned America its greatness: a free-market economy and the abundance and prosperity it brings; a dedication to civil liberties and personal freedom that marks this country above all others; and a foreign policy of non-intervention, peace, and free trade as prescribed by America’s founders.”
Source: http://www.lp.org/

Ralph Nader
Ticket: Presidential candidate Ralph Nader and vice presidential candidate Matt Gonzalez
What they believe: “Adopt a carbon pollution tax; adopt a Wall Street securities speculation tax; adopt single payer national health insurance; adopt the National Initiative; aggressive crackdown on corporate crime and corporate welfare; cut the huge, bloated, wasteful military budget; defend, restore and strengthen the civil justice system; no to nuclear power; solar energy first; open up the Presidential debates; put an end to ballot access obstructionism; repeal the Taft-Hartley anti-union law; reverse U.S. policy in the Middle East; work to end corporate personhood.”
Source: http://www.votenader.org

Find out more about other political parties in the state:
http://www.independentalabama.org

Check out the Lee County sample ballot as provided on the Alabama Secretary of State Web site.