OH: La Botz Launches Campaign to Petition for Inclusive Debates

A press release from Dan La Botz, Socialist Party candidate for US Senate in Ohio, sent via email:

Dan La Botz, Socialist Party candidate for the U.S. Senate from Ohio, has initiated a petition to demand that Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner use her authority to insure inclusive political debates in Ohio where all candidates can be heard.

The online petition points out that Republican candidate Rob Portman and Democratic Party candidate Lee Fisher have been discussing the possibility of debates which would exclude the Socialist La Botz as well as the Constitution candidate Eric Deaton.

“The Ohio Secretary of State has the responsibility to insure fair elections,” says La Botz. “So far Jennifer Brunner has done an excellent job to insure that all parties and candidates will appear on the ballot. But, if an election is to be fair, then voters have to be able to hear all of the candidates’ views—not just the Republicans and Democrats.”

La Botz points out that recent polls show many and perhaps most Americans disgusted with both parties and looking for alternatives. “The alternatives deserve to be heard,” says the Socialist candidate . . .

The petition, which can be found on line at http://www.change.org/petitions/view/petition_for_inclusive_political_debates_in_ohio reads as follows:

Petition for Inclusive Political Debates in Ohio

SIGN THE PETITION FOR INCLUSIVE POLITICAL DEBATES IN OHIO - YOU NEED NOT BE FROM OHIO TO SUPPORT THIS IMPORTANT POLITICAL PRINCIPLE.

Once again, as in many elections in recent years, the Republican and Democratic parties, together with the corporate news media, are arranging candidate debates that exclude all but those two parties. Here in Ohio, the Republican candidate for Senate Rob Portman and his Democratic opponent Lee Fisher are currently discussing a debate which would apparently bar from participation both Dan La Botz, the Socialist Party candidate, and Eric Deaton, the Constitution Party candidate. Such exclusive debates keep information from the public and distort the political process.

We the undersigned, believing that an informed public and educated electorate are essential to good government, and believing that all candidates from all parties should have equal opportunity to face each other in public forums and to debate the issues before the public, therefore petition Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (the Ohio offficial responsible for overseeing elections) to insure that all of the candidates in the Ohio Senate race as well as other national, state and local races have an equal opportunity to participate in debates before the public. We call upon all candidates in Ohio and the sponsors of all debates and candidate forums to ensure that representatives of all legally registered parties are invited and included.