l of the criteria for third parties to be included in the debates are good and fine or not, butwho is on this commission that gives them authority to decide the fate of candidates. Believe it or not there aresome impressive names of individuals on the commission. This includes both former Presidents Gerald R. Fordand Jimmy Carter, Governor Pete Wilson, two state representatives, Lewis and Vucanovich, as well as CarolineKennedy the daughter of late President John F. Kennedy (Commission,_). There are also thirteen national organizations that work with the Commission to promote the educationalvalues of the debates. These organizations also try to find ways to get the young people of America involved in thepolitical process (Commission,_). Included in this grouping are The American Library Association, the NationalAssociation of Broadcasters, the National School Board Association and the Newspaper Association of Americaamong others (Commission,_). One could say this commission is fairly represented by individuals andorganizations that are knowledgeable of the election process, but are they representative of the voting public. Thatis for you to decide. Now that we know about the Commission on Presidential Debates stand on third parties being in the debateswe should find out a little more about who the third parties are. Actually in this 1996 election year there are severalthird party candidates running for the office of President of the United States. Most of us are familiar with RossPerot because of his 1992 election campaign and the events of his current campaign, however there are four otherparty candidates. The Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate is Harry Brown and their vice presidential candidate JoJorgenson (Hall,7A). They are on the ballot in 50 states (Hall,7A). In 1992 this parties candidates received lessthan 1% of the vote (Hall,7A). The Natural Law Party’s candidates include John Hagelin ...
