Apparently Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio, like most of the media, believes that there's such a thing as 'too much democracy'. In the gubernatorial debates they excluded the Green Party Candidate, Nelson Eisman. Listeners to Madison's Air America radio affiliate, The Mic 92.1, were treated to Eisman's response to the debate between Democratic incumbent Jim Doyle and Republican challenger Mark Green. Neither of the two major party candidates are especially inspiring.
Which was why Eisman's appearance on The Mic was as enlightening as it was entertaining. The Gubernatorial Green was as funny as he was whip smart as morning co-host Jodie Shawback 'moderated' Eisman in the debate -- giving him the same questions and the same amount of time for answers that WPT and WPR gave the major party candidates.
It's hard to say that Eisman won the debate I heard, since no candidate was there to respond to him. And it's you can't argue that one station in Madison offers the same exposure for him that Doyle and Green got with a statewide network.
It really is a shame that Eisman wasn't included.
So here the Wisconsin public broadcast stations are making the same mistake again. Two uninspiring candidates, Democrat Herb Kohl and Republican Robert Lorge, will take to the stage to debate for one of Wisconsin's Senate seats. And, once again, the Green Party candidate will be left out in the cold.
The Capital Times:
The decision of Wisconsin Public Television to exclude Rae Vogeler, the Green Party's serious contender in this fall's U.S. Senate race, from what some billed as a Senate debate last night was reprehensible.
We expect the fundamentally flawed "We the People" project, with its corporate sponsorship and arcane rules, to go out of its way to narrow the discourse and undermine the democratic traditions of Wisconsin, as it has with its decision to exclude the Green candidate from the gubernatorial debates. And we were not surprised when last night's similarly flawed Wisconsin Broadcasters Association gubernatorial debate featured only the Democratic and Republican candidates.
But, somehow, it is worse when Wisconsin Public Television, which should set higher standards, mimics the worst patterns in our political process.
In this case, Kohl is far too comfortable in his race. His Republican opponent is hopelessly behind and Kohl has seen no reason to attend more than one debate. Not only should Vogeler be included in this debate, but there should be more of them. Wisconsin deserves more from her Senator and it deserves more from WPT.
Tags: news politics elections Wisconsin senate Vogeler Kohl
