Generally, I steer clear of politics and political matters. They neither interest or excite me in any way, and I’ve found that discussion of them tends to lead to some pointless and rather stupid arguments that make the people around quite uncomfortable. But this past week at dinner, some friends and I were talking and the upcoming election found its way into our conversation, and someone mentioned something that made me want to stay: Third-Party Candidates can’t debate on live national television. My first thought was “why”? I took Speech-and-Debate in high school, so I knew firsthand that debates allowed a platform for introducing your own views and strengthening them, as well as being able to show how they are superior to your opponents--something that I’m sure presidential candidates needed to be able to do. And with most of the nation watching, candidates would be able to show why Americans should vote for them. But now I realized that only Democrats and Republicans were allowed for their opinions and beliefs to strengthened and refuted...but not other candidates like Gary Johnson. I believe this is unfair. I believe that every candidate should be able to go in front of the world and proclaim and defend their beliefs. I feel that this gives citizens a chance to know each and every one of their candidates and would allow them to make a more informed decision about who they would want to support. Now I’m not saying that I’m a Johnson supporter, but I believe he should have the same opportunity as the Democratic and Republican nominees. The national debates puts each candidate on a sort-of equal level but is it really equal when only the candidates from MAJOR political parties get time in the spotlight while the third-party candidates have to scramble to get their message on the air and have to resort to inferior methods of sharing and strengthening their stances.
I also find this matter to be, maybe a little, unconstitutional. And I hate to say that word but I feel that by not allowing third-party candidates to publicly declare their stances harms their right to free-speech. Now, I know that these candidates are still able to get their opinions but the fact they are not allowed to go in front of the country on national television and openly view their opinions and meet critics face-to-face doesn’t allow them to openly say their piece, especially when the nominees from the primary political parties are allowed to do so. After all, at the end of the day these candidates are still citizens and deserve to be allowed to have this fundamental right.
Now I am assuming that maybe third-party candidates are not as popular as the Republican and Democratic parties, but they are still running for Presidency and every candidate should be given ample opportunity to be able to voice, strengthen and defend his or her positions on the issues facing America. I believe the only way to make sure that the right person gets chosen is to make sure that each candidate’s voice is heard, and that can’t happen with the third-party candidates not being allowed to debate.
