Who says Republicans and Democrats can't work together if they see the American Way of Life Threatened By Insurgents?
President Obama, Governor Romney and the bi-partisan Commission on Presidential debates all three filed motions earlier this year to dismiss an anti-trust lawsuit filed by the Libertarian and Green Parties. (bolding mine)
In response, attorneys for presidential candidate Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party, 2012 Green Party candidate Jill Stein, the Green Party and their respective vice-presidential candidates have filed a 55-page brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia opposing motions to dismiss their anti-trust lawsuit against the Commission of Presidential Debates (CPD), Gov. Mitt Romney, and President Obama.
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Johnson and the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit claim that participation in presidential debates is an essential facility in the multi-billion dollar business of campaigning for the presidency; that presidential debates cannot be duplicated because the defendants agreed in writing in a Memorandum of Understanding to boycott all debates or joint appearance events with rivals outside CPDs sponsorship; that defendants acting in concert arbitrarily denied Johnson and Stein access to presidential debates by establishing a 15% polling criterion to cripple competition in the business of campaigning for the presidency; and, that presidential debates can be conducted to optimize voter education by abandoning the 15% criterion but requiring debate participants to have qualified on enough state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning an Electoral College majority. Applying that standard historically would have resulted in presidential debates with four to seven candidates, including Johnson and Stein in 2012, and would have enriched voter education.
"Requiring debate participants to have qualified on enough state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning an Electoral College majority." sounds like a reasonable approach to me. What say you?
President Obama, Governor Romney and the bi-partisan Commission on Presidential debates all three filed motions earlier this year to dismiss an anti-trust lawsuit filed by the Libertarian and Green Parties. (bolding mine)
Quote:
In response, attorneys for presidential candidate Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party, 2012 Green Party candidate Jill Stein, the Green Party and their respective vice-presidential candidates have filed a 55-page brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia opposing motions to dismiss their anti-trust lawsuit against the Commission of Presidential Debates (CPD), Gov. Mitt Romney, and President Obama.
...
Johnson and the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit claim that participation in presidential debates is an essential facility in the multi-billion dollar business of campaigning for the presidency; that presidential debates cannot be duplicated because the defendants agreed in writing in a Memorandum of Understanding to boycott all debates or joint appearance events with rivals outside CPDs sponsorship; that defendants acting in concert arbitrarily denied Johnson and Stein access to presidential debates by establishing a 15% polling criterion to cripple competition in the business of campaigning for the presidency; and, that presidential debates can be conducted to optimize voter education by abandoning the 15% criterion but requiring debate participants to have qualified on enough state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning an Electoral College majority. Applying that standard historically would have resulted in presidential debates with four to seven candidates, including Johnson and Stein in 2012, and would have enriched voter education.
