Getting Our Candidates in the Debates

Michael Jones, At-large Director for the Collin County Libertarian Party, is working on getting our state level candidates access to the televised debates. Here is an except of his exchange with KERA, the Dallas PBS affiliate hosting one of the debates:

I’m excited KERA is again conducting gubernatorial debates for 2014.  I hope Kathy Glass, our Libertarian Party candidate, will be included in these debates to make them both informative and entertaining. I’ve reviewed your “Criteria for Candidate Participation in KERA Broadcast Debates”, especially, “KERA’s mission is to serve our communities through public television, radio and multimedia resources that educate, inspire, enrich, inform and entertain. … tradition of solid news and public affairs programming that focuses on a commitment to help viewers and listeners make informed decisions.“One of the criteria to be considered by editorial staff in making decisions about candidate inclusion is “Polls are a measure of voter interest. If a candidate consistently receives a minimum of a 10% rating in established, nonpartisan polls, the candidate will be presumed to be newsworthy.“As you know, local, state and national Libertarian candidates routinely receive 20-30% or more in 2-way polls against candidates from the other two big parties, which I believe meets your criteria.Libertarians are the 3^rd largesat and fastest growing political party today. Including a Libertarian perspective will give your viewers a more complete and exciting understanding of the political choices available.If possible, I’d like to talk with you more before you finalize the candidates for your debates later this month.

Great stuff Michael. If you would like to help, please consider contacting KERA yourself and making your wishes known. The more people they hear from the better.