Michigan Voters Lose First TV DebateGreen Party of Michigan Committee to Elect Douglas Campbell for
Governor October 05, 2006 Public TV Denies Public Access to Green Candidate Campbell; Viewers See, Hear Less Than Half the Story of the Governor's Race Pundits may spin and dispute over who won Michigan's first televised gubernatorial debate Monday night. But the clear losers were the voters and taxpayers of Michigan -- who were denied the chance to learn about three of the five candidates in the race . . . and had to pay for the event, too. Douglas Campbell, two-time candidate for governor of the Green Party of Michigan (GPMI), was turned away by Michigan Public Broadcasting station WKAR-TV as he went to check in for the debate, which had been touted for its open format. Barred from the public airwaves by a public television station, Campbell spoke instead to the press and crowd outside the studio on his campaign's message of "Peace, Jobs, and Justice". Campbell will attend the remaining two scheduled TV debates: a formal debate at WOOD-TV 8 in Grand Rapids Tuesday, October 10 and a town-hall forum Monday, October 16 at WDIV in Southfield, both at 8pm. Campbell also noted that WKAR-TV and MPB tried to use the Catch-22 of an isolated poll, the first by that firm to even mention Campbell and two other candidates, to excuse excluding them. Campbell, Libertarian Gregory Creswell, and Bhagwan Dashairya of the US Taxpayers Party had met all qualifications for the Nov. 7 ballot more than a month before the poll -- and before either of the two candidates WKAR allowed on the air. "A new political idea cannot gather support until it's been heard. WKAR's use of polls is contrived to prevent new ideas from being heard until after they gather support. 'Wait until you meet the criteria' actually means 'Wait forever'. It means people never hear a legally qualified candidate say that bringing Michigan National Guard troops home, and ending the 'war' in Iraq, can also bring home more than enough money to cover the SBT . . . or that the candidate knows there's no reason to shoot doves -- Michigan's official bird of peace." But the larger statewide audience was denied the chance to see and hear Campbell express his views. As Campbell pointed out, "WKAR's board of directors shortchanged the electorate by excluding diverse ideas. Their 'debate' did little more than re-air Dick & Jen's political commercials -- using your tax dollars and mine." Campbell urged voters to demand better. "Tell WKAR to *be more* than half-hearted journalists, telling less than half the story of this election. And tell WOOD and WDIV you want everyone *on* the ballot *in* the debates." For information on Campbell, running mate David Skrbina, and their platform, visit votecampbell2006.org. Committee to Elect Douglas Campbell
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