NEW YORK - Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich filed a complaint with the FCC on Friday after ABC News excluded him, fellow Democrat Mike Gravel and Republican Duncan Hunter from its prime-time debates on Saturday.
Kucinich argued that ABC is violating equal-time provisions by keeping him out of the debate and noted that ABC's parent Walt Disney Co. had contributed to campaigns involving the four Democrats who were invited.
"ABC should not be the first primary," the Ohio congressman said in papers filed at the Federal Communications Commission.
ABC said it hoped to encourage more conversation and interaction among the candidates during the debates, which will both be moderated by Charles Gibson. The stakes are high as candidates take the stage three days before the New Hampshire primary.
The Republican debate will include Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. It starts at 7 p.m. EST.
Shortly after that 90-minute forum, Democrats Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Bill Richardson will take the stage at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.
The network set rules to narrow the field. Candidates had to meet at least one of three criteria: place first through fourth in Iowa, poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major New Hampshire surveys, or poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major national surveys.
Democrats Joe Biden and Chris Dodd took some of the pressure off ABC by quitting the race Thursday night.
"In previous debates where the stage was more crowded you had to make sure all of the candidates got fair time," said David Chalian, ABC News political director. "Here you will have more time to go in depth on the issues."
ABC said it believed its rules were inclusive, while also ensuring viewers get a thorough look at the probable next president.
"We're regretful that we're not going to be in it," said Roy Tyler, a spokesman for Hunter. "We're just going to keep working. I think it's a mistake on their part to exclude any viable candidate at this point."
Fox News Channel is sponsoring a debate in its mobile studio Sunday that excludes Paul and Hunter. Huckabee, Giuliani, Romney, Thompson and McCain have been invited.
Each debate will be divided into two parts. During the first 45 minutes, Gibson will select three prominent issues to promote a dialogue. The candidates will be seated and encouraged to talk to each other, and not just to the cameras, Gibson said.
"If I have any personal prejudice against these debates, it's that you see too much of the moderator," Gibson said. "I want to see less of the moderator and more of the candidates."
There won't be any buzzers or lights on the stage to mark time limits for talking, putting the pressure on Gibson to limit filibusters and promote fairness.
The second half of the debate will be a more traditional format, with Gibson and WMUR-TV political director Scott Spradling asking questions on a variety of topics. Candidates will be asked to keep their answers to a minute, Chalian said.
Gibson said he hoped to have a few minutes where both Republican and Democratic candidates are on the same stage, to promote the idea that despite differences, all are Americans hoping for the best for their country. The auditorium will be quickly emptied between debates and a new audience brought in.
Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos will lead ABC's coverage. Three hours of live debate with both Republican and Democratic candidates represents a grueling on-air test for Gibson, ABC's chief news anchor.
"I didn't volunteer," he said. "It's something new, it's something different. I can fail miserably at this and may well do so but we're looking for some ways to do something different."
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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. Fox is a unit of News Corp.
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7 comments:
Well, that's disappointing. I have a hard time believing that Ron Paul somehow made the cut, but Dennich Kusinis didn't. Boo.
I hate that 6 republicans are going to have to fight for facetime in their debate, while the 4 democrats will get to have a much smaller, more intimate discussion. But, I suppose that's the reality of the situation. I think the Republican picture is far less clear than it is on the Democratic side. I think we all know that either Obama or Clinton are going to take this race... and my bets are on Obama. On the R side of the fence, however, who freakin' knows....
I watched some of the Republican side of the debate tonight with my dad and my step-mom before going out*. Even my family was saying that Ron Paul made the most sense. They found him well-spoken, intelligent and truthfully about both the questions he responded to and his personal views (my step-mother kept calling him the "little old man"). They found Romney detestable, Huckabee okay, McCain pretty good and a decent man, Giuliani alright, and I didn't hear them comment on Thompson (even though my father seemed to like him when he first announced). My opinion: I thought Paul was the only one worth listening to really... eh... McCain was ok... Giuliani was just below 50%... nuts to Huckabee, Romney and Thompson.
The little bit I saw of the Democratic side of the debate was pretty heated between Clinton and Obama (and Edwards). I liked a lot what Obama said, though I am still not completely sold on him. Richardson was interesting but a bit odd. I was about 75% onboard with Edwards' ideas. But Hilary continued to rub me the wrong way. I enjoyed that Edwards kept referring to her as the "status quo". As far as my fam went... well, my step-mom liked Clinton for being a strong female and she likes Edwards, not much to say on Richardson and Obama she didn't say much about either. Dad thinks HC will win the nomination and election and appoint Richardson to Sec of State. Not too big on Edwards or Obama it seemed.
Wish it was on mine so I could watch it all. But boo again for leaving out DK! Fucking Mickey Mouse!
*My dad and step-mom are both professed Christians. Dad is too cynical to be affiliated with either party and my step-mother call herself a old school Democrat, though I find most of her views Republican.
Ok, I am totally on-board with the I wish we could edit posts thing... I found a few errors in my post - please ignore - and I meant to type " wish it was online so I could watch it all".
I didn't get to watch the entire debate from beginning to end as I was working at the time, but I did keep my ears open and listed to the TV as often as I could.
Dems: Gah! How can you stand to listen to Edwards speak! He's such a schmarmy little lawyer-type. Every time he opened his mouth, my spidey sense made my skin crawl. That guy is so fake it hurts...
To be honest, I kinda like Richardson. He seems like a pretty level headed guy, and it turns out we have some pretty similar views on some things. But at this point, I think he's fairly irrelevent. We all know who the big three are, and I'm afraid he was simply invited to be a warm body.
Hillary, same old same old. Now, she did call Obama out on the Partiot Act and Iraq War funding, and Obama did not have a satisfactory response for it. But I still don't like her, and I doubt that's going to change unless she does something like cure cancer or save the earth from an Alien attack. Even then, I would probably be suspicious of her motives...
Obama is the only one there that has the the charisma and magnatism to be a leader. One thing that rubs me the wrong way is his position on Al-Qaeda elements in Pakistan. It's one thing to make a military incursion into a country that is actively harboring terrorists. It's another entirely to do so into a sovereign, friendly country, and in the process of doing so, make it an enemy. Many Pakistanis already dislike us. To irreverently provoke the Pakistani people just because we can and they can't stop us is exactly the same mentality that resulted in the mess we have in Iraq. If we knew Al Qeada were holed up in Canada, would he be so glib? If Obama is going to be a champion for change, he needs to rethink this message. However... I know that there are plenty of hawkish conservatives and independents who would agree with him, so he's probably scoring more points than he's losing.
As far as the Republicans go: Thompson strikes me as an empty suit. I don't think he really wants to be president so much as just run the race. :P
Ron Paul is still on message... and while I agree with much of what he says, he too is little more than a warm body at this point. Plus, he does occasionally come across as an asshole, which probably isn't going to improve his position in the polls much. :P The fact of the matter is, most conservatives believe that even if the Iraq war was a mistake, that Bush committed to it because he believed it was the right thing to do. To call Bush a warmonger isn't going to sit well with most people. Hell, you know my position on the war, and it doesn't sit well with me, either.
Huckabee: To be perfectly honest, I think Huckabee is a likeable enough guy in private. As a candidate, he says the right things, and says them well enough. But I can't get past his religious background, and that's probably not going to change.
Romney: Fuck that guy. Someone else my spidey sense can't stand.
McCain: Same ol' McCain, and that's a good thing in my book. While he doesn't rub against the grain quite as harshly as Paul, he's a principled man, and I like his demeanor. I'm not terribly keen on his stance on illegal immigration, but I'll try to keep an open mind.
Giuliani: I wish I could have heard more from him, to be honest. I don't know if I missed his parts or not, but I only heard him speak 2 or 3 times.
So far, I haven't heard anything that will change my mind... Giuliani and McCain are still my preferred candidates, and of the Dems, Obama is still the leader. (and the only one of the top three that I remotely like)
Interesting that your step-mom would describe herself as an "old-school" democrat, and that you think many of her views are closer to being Republican.
Fact of the matter is, old school Democrats used to be far more temperate and conservative, and old school conservatives used to be far more Libertarian.
The Democrats and Republicans of today, however, seem to have completely polarized to the extremes of a few key issues... and seem to be getting more extreme by the day.
I wish the Democrats were nearly as "extreme" as you paint them. The more I hear the more I think that there is hardly any difference between the two parties. The exceptions are the religious right in the conservative camp and the hand full of actual liberals in the Democratic party (e.g. Kucinich). The rest are bitterly arguing over minor details, like by just how much to reduce corporate welfare not whether or not to end it, how to provide more health care to more people but without being too "hard" on the poor insurance providers that might suffer from a universal health care or state insurance program, or by how much to cut taxes on the wealthiest Americans so as to keep a consumer-based economy afloat rather than making a real attempt to raise up poorer segments of society by improving public education, job training, and providing reasonable access to health care.
Really, it seems to me that most of them are Republicrats and the few on the margins are seen as extremists because they actually want to make tangible changes (for better or worse) to an inherently broken system.
Oh, and Richards is a prime example. He is about as liberal as Bob Dole, so I guess it's not surprise Beck found something about him appealing. ;>.
I suppose Right and Left are entirely subjective... When one sits on the "lunacy" end of the lefty chart, everyone else looks like a conservative... :D (and vice versa, of course).
The problem is, that means those on that end of the scale are out of touch with about 90% of the American public, who in private conversation are more or less "Republicrats" and "Rhinos" that fall within that gradiant of grey between the two lunacy marks.
But, recognizing and admitting that you are a frothing-at-the-mouth Lefty McLeftington member of the Pol Pot Fan Club is a good thing. Knowing that you have a problem is the first step towards recovery!! :D
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