A press release and letter from the
La Botz campaign for US Senate, sent via email:
Dan La Botz, the Socialist Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in Ohio has written a letter to the Ohio Newspaper Association, to the City Club of Cleveland, and to the broadcast media demanding that he be included in the forthcoming debate between candidates for the U.S. Senate.
La Botz writes to the Newspaper Association, “The Ohio voters have the right to hear from all of the parties and all of the candidates for this important national office. Holding a debate with the participation of only two candidates from only two of the parties presents a distorted impression of the race to the voters, limits the alternatives they will hear, and does a disservice to our democracy.”
He concludes his letter, “Newspapers, our oldest form of mass media, have the responsibility and the opportunity through their collaboration with broadcast and electronic media to help to inform the Ohio voters. Take up that responsibility and seize that opportunity in this election by including me and the candidates of other parties in the proposed debates.”
The Ohio Newspaper Association, the broadcast media, and the Cleveland City Club—whose motto is “The Citadel of Free Speech”—planned to hold the debates with only two of the candidates: Rob Portman of the Republican Party and Lee Fisher of the Democratic Party.
La Botz asks, “How have you excluded the Socialist Party which represents an increasingly popular point of view according to recent polls? The Gallup Poll of February 2010 says that socialism is viewed favorably by 36% of Americans. The Pew and Rasmussen polls had similar results.”
Read the full letter after the jump.
Full Text of La Botz Letter to Ohio Newspaper Asssociation:
Dear Board of the Ohio Newspaper Association,
The media have announced that you will be helping to organize debates between U.S. Senate candidates Rob Portman of the Republican Party and Lee Fisher of the Democratic Party. I am writing to insist that, as a certified candidate in the race for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, I be included in the debates which your organization is helping to organize.
The Ohio voters have the right to hear from all of the parties and all of the candidates for this important national office. Holding a debate with the participation of only two candidates from only two of the parties presents a distorted impression of the race to the voters, limits the alternatives they will hear, and does a disservice to our democracy.
In organizing these debates, I urge that you to avoid the path of least resistance and take instead the high road of responsibility to the public.
What criteria did you use in choosing these candidates? How have you excluded the Socialist Party which represents an increasingly popular point of view according to recent polls? The Gallup Poll of February 2010 says that socialism is viewed favorably by 36% of Americans. The Pew and Rasmussen polls had similar results.
Newspapers, our oldest form of mass media, have the responsibility and the opportunity through their collaboration with broadcast and electronic media to help to inform the Ohio voters. Take up that responsibility and seize that opportunity in this election by including me and the candidates of other parties in the proposed debates.
Sincerely,
Dan La Botz
Socialist Party candidate for the U.S. Senate
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment