TN: Independent Tea Party Candidates for House Excluded from Debate

From the Commercial Appeal:

Donn Janes of Brighton, one of two independent candidates for the 8th Congressional District seat on the November ballot, was a bit premature when he accepted an invitation last week to debate his opponents next month at Union University. That's because he isn't being invited, according to Tim Ellsworth, the Jackson-based university's director of news and media relations. Neither is independent candidate Mark J. Rawles, who said Wednesday that "it's almost like we're censoring our candidates" to deprive him of a spot on stage. Both Rawles and Janes are associated with the tea party movement. 

The official reason why the independents are being excluded is because the debate is apparently meant to serve as a tool for the indoctrination of the University's students into the ideology of the two-party state and duopoly system of government:

In response to an e-mail from The Commercial Appeal, Ellsworth said: "The Oct. 5 debate at Union between congressional candidates Stephen Fincher (a Republican) and Roy Herron (a Democrat) is a two-man debate.

"We understand that there are two independent candidates in the race as well, but from the beginning of this process we knew we wanted a two-man format because we have two political student groups represented on campus in the College Republicans and the College Democrats, and those groups will be involved with the debate."