The Politics of Exclusion
Published October 12, 2004
The Democrats and Republicans have a nice little game going. They control the action, excluding anyone that sounds remotely outside their narrow, marginally differentiated products, trivializing these (all sneer now) fringe, third-party radicals at every turn. Libertarians, Greens, Socialists, Constitution Party advocates- you are all RC Cola to the domination of the Coke and Pepsi that are the Republicans and Democrats.
The 2004 Presidential debates have been the exclusive domain of the R's and D's. In their frustration, Libertarian Michael Badnarik has staged debates with Green David Cobb, with the Socialist and CP candidate. The frustration level peaked for Badnarik and Cobb such that they were arrested in St. Louis together, trying to crash the recent debate. Didn't hear much about it? The press is in on it, too.
Indiana is a little different. The Libertarian Party has automatic ballot access and polls consistently better than any other third party in the US. In the LPIN's 2002 ballot access race, Rebecca Sink-Burris earned just under 5% of the statewide vote, gaining better than 7% in four Hoosier counties.
So, it was not surprising when the LPIN gubernatorial candidate, Kenn Gividen, was included at a recent televised debate at small Franklin College. It was surprising that Republican challenger Mitch Daniels complimented Gividen five times during the debate. Apparently, the Democrats took sharp notice of that.
The second Indiana gubernatorial debate is scheduled for this Sunday, to take place in little New Albany, on the campus of IU southeast. This time, Gividen has been excluded in a decision driven by the incumbent Democratic governor, Joe Kernan, and agreed to by the Daniels campaign. The exclusion was so thorough that Gividen wasn't even part of the negotiations. He had to learn about it from the manager of the PBS affiliate hosting the debate.
It's curious that at once the Libertarian party is trivialized by the D's & R's, and yet, we're great enough a threat to shut out. Of course, Gividen was getting great press. A prime example is new-terrain I-69. Long-time Democrats furious with Kernan for failing to protect the environment, proposing a new highway through wetlands, woods, and farmland. From today's Indy Star, in an article titled "Environmental Concerns Taking a Back Seat":
The only major point on which the candidates differ is how to pay for the new road — Kernan says he'll fight for more federal funding; Daniels said he might consider toll roads.
But if the new roadway is not a campaign issue for the two major candidates, it certainly is for many Hoosiers — some of whom are supporting Libertarian candidate Kenn Gividen, who opposes the route.
John Smith is director and founder of COUNT US!, a Solsberry-based group that opposes the route.
- The Politics of Exclusion
- Published: October 12, 2004
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- Section: Politics
- Writer: Mike Kole
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kind of like Watergate, eh? Good story Mike, and I totally agree the process has to be respected - thanks!
Eric- the effort was a full multi-media drive, and blogging was definitely a part of it. Among others, I blogged here to Blogcritics and to my own site, and our opponents were given links to our blogs.
Here's the Timeline of Reversal:
5:00 p.m. Monday -- Libertarian Party State Director, Brad Klopfenstein, receives confirmation that Gividen will be excluded from the debate.
6:48 p.m. Monday -- Gividen gets the news upon arriving to his weekly staff meeting.
7:00 p.m. Monday -- Gividen for Governor campaign staff suspend meeting agenda to focus on media attention.
7:10 p.m. Monday evening -- Channel 59 camera crew arrives at staff meeting to interview Gividen, break news of exclusion to Indiana.
7:30 p.m. Monday -- Distribution of press releases from Gividen for Governor Campaign and the Libertarian Party of Indiana begins. Campaign staff plots strategy. Klopfenstein opts for noon news conference to address the issue. Campaign staff calls multiple media outlets across the state, including Abdul, host of WXNT's Abdul in the Morning.
12:00 midnight -- Staff concludes activity for the evening.
6:00 a.m. Tuesday -- Abdul hits airwaves with exclusion story, interviews Klopfenstein; firestorm of protests from voters ensues.
6:30 - 7:30 a.m. -- Daniels and Kernan campaign managers are interviewed by WXTN, blaming the other of excluding Gividen. Both say they want Gividen in the debate. Neither knows that both have said this, blaming the other side. Recordings of both sides blaming the other is played repeatedly throughout the day.
7:30 a.m. Tuesday -- Gividen, enroute to Indianapolis to record radio ads, tunes in to Abdul in the Morning, amazed at intensity of voter protest.
9:00 a.m. Tuesday -- Abdul signs off
10:00 a.m. Tuesday -- Gividen arives at studio to record radio ad.
10:45 a.m. Tuesday -- Gividen receives courtesy call from Governor Kernan.
11:00 a.m. Tuesday -- Gividen arrives at Libertarian headquarters to discuss strategy with Klopfenstein and Marion County Chair Sam Goldstein
12:00 noon Tuesday -- Gividen addresses media and supporters at news conference at Soldiers and Sailors Monument (The Circle) in Indy. Daniels representative attends to affirm support.
1:00 p.m. Tuesday -- Campaign staff meet with party officials to review days events.
3:00 p.m. Tuesday -- Gividen travels to campaign event in LaPorte.
3:00 - 5:00 p.m. -- Gividen records 15 minute radio interview via cell phone, fields calls from Mary Beth Schneider (Indy Star), Metro Indiana and The Republic.
5:00 p.m. -- Gividen receives call from Klopfenstein with news that official notification of inclusion has been received from WTIU-TV in Bloomington.
a very reall and specific demonstration of the power of blogs - I hope someone in the mainstream media picks up on it
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/20872)
This was a short-lived escapade. In less than 24 hours, the D's & R's caved to relentless pressure, and Kenn Gividen is back in the debate- where he belongs.
Their strategy backfired on them. The Libertarian publicity machine was underestimated. The message was simple: dignify the deomcratic process and included Gividen, for the benefit of the people of Indiana and not merely for the LP. Press releases went out, letters went to the editors of newspapers across the state, and talk radio stations were flooded with calls. Calls went to the hosting university and TV stations, along with the HQs of the Daniels and Kernan campaigns.
Curiously, had the debate included Gividen from the beginning, he would have appeared and that would have been that. Instead, the exclusion of Kenn Gividen was the story of the day. The LP was the sympathetic character, and the Democrats and Republicans the evil conspirators, correctly identified. The LP got a huge publicity bump that they couldn't have purchased.
LP Executive Director Brad Klopfenstein quickly called for a press conference for Noon today, to be held on the Monument downtown. It was well attended, adding to the sympathetic publicity.
What was the hold up? Observe the nonsense Kernan and Daniels wring hands over- risers to make the two men appear as tall as Gividen on stage. Pathetic.