News Release - Monday, October 21, 2002

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Green Candidates Included in More Debates, Winning Greater Support.

THE GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES

MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release:
Monday, October 21, 2002

Contacts:
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576, nallen@acadia.net
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, scottmclarty@yahoo.com


GREEN CANDIDATES INCLUDED IN MORE DEBATES, WINNING GREATER SUPPORT

The Democrat-Republican stranglehold on candidates' debates weakens and backfires; Greens announce a new web page with updates: http://www.gp.org/debates.

WASHINGTON, DC -- While some debate sponsors continue to bar Green Party candidates, Greens are participating in more and more debates - or getting public attention when they're excluded.

"Democrats and sometimes even Republicans are right to fear the inclusion of Greens in candidates' debates," said David Cobb, Green candidate for Attorney General of Texas. "Whenever Greens participate, they speak to the interests and ideals of voters, come away with a surge of support."

Some Green candidates have encountered fierce resistance. Ted Glick, running for the New Jersey seat in the U.S. Senate, was arrested in September for trying to enter the News 12 Studio in Edison, N.J., the site of a debate between Democratic Senator Robert Torricelli and Republican Douglas Forrester, and is now seeking inclusion in the final televised debate on WNBC. In May, Michigan gubernatorial candidate Douglas Campbell spent the evening in jail for attempting to participate in a debate sponsored by the League of Conservation Voters. Six police officers removed him with such vigor that Campbell, who offered no resistance, received a broken rib. 

But many Greens have broke through the antidemocratic two-party stranglehold on debates, and have been admitted to more debates than in years past, proving the party's growth in numbers and increasing viability. Green gubernatorial candidates in seven states are participating in at least nine debates this week. Green gubernatorial candidates have now been included in the debates in the following states: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maine, Michigan, Alaska, Iowa, and New York. A full list of Green Party debate participation and exclusion stories can be found at <http://www.gp.org/debates>. 

"The debate over debates has grown more contentious ever since Green candidate Ralph Nader was barred from the presidential debates by the Democrats and Republicans who run the Commission on Presidential Debates," said Starlene Rankin, who represents the Green Party's Lavender Caucus. "The solution is independent control of debates -- and a challenge to the media to recognize the censorship of candidates outside of the narrow Democratic and Republican spectrum."

Greens have reported dramatic confrontations over debates in several states, with typical dramas occurring in California and Massachusetts: 

CALIFORNIA 

On Monday, October 7, the Los Angeles Times sponsored barred Peter Miguel Camejo, the California Green Party's candidate for Govermor, from both the stage and the audience during a televised debate, in acquiescence to Gov. Gray Davis, the incumbent Democrat, who had threatened to pull out if Camejo were even present in the audience.

About 30 paid Davis demonstrators tried unsuccessfully to prevent Camejo from being interview by a large group of reporters by drowning him out; instead, Camejo received widespread media attention. "While I would have liked to be inside the building," said Camejo, "I have to thank the Governor for excluding me,
since it resulted in 60 press interviews over the next 45 minutes."

A San Francisco Chronicle online poll all day on October 7 showed that 87% of Californians favored
Camejo's participation in the debates. A recent Survey USA poll indicated 9% support for Camejo
statewide.

MASSACHUSETTS 

Jon Keller, the moderator of an October 9 gubernatorial debate and a well-respected political analyst, declared on WBZ radio the following morning that Green candidate Jill Stein was the winner, an opinion confirmed by an online poll of listeners.

Middlesex Superior Court Judge Linda Giles denied an earlier motion to order Stein's inclusion in debates, siding with a corporate media consortium's decision to bar her from the debates. In what Massachusetts Greens called an "Orwellian twist of logic," the defendants invoked freedom of speech as their justification
for silencing the speech of certain candidates. 

MORE INFORMATION

The Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org 
National office: 1314 18th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN

Updates on Green candidates in debates 
http://www.gp.org/debates 

Index of Green Party candidates in 2002 
http://www.gp.org/patience.html 

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News Release - Monday, October 21, 2002

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