Iowa Debate To Exclude Lower Tier

http://dhgrassrevolt.wordpress.com/2007/11/07/iowa-debate-to-exclude-lower-tier/#comments ^

[dit_xi]

Republican Party of Iowa to host presidential debate in DES MOINES

Debate to be nationally televised by FOX NEWS CHANNEL

The Republican Party of Iowa announced today that it will hold its presidential debate at Hy-Vee Hall in downtown Des Moines. The event, to be held the evening of December 4, 2007, will be the first debate in Iowa to be televised by FOX News Channel this election season, as well as the first debate sponsored by the Republican Party of Iowa.

Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Ray Hoffmann said, “With the caucuses less than a month away, our December 4 debate will be very telling to Iowans and the nation. We are thrilled to be having this event in central Iowa, and right in downtown Des Moines which will be the epicenter on caucus night.”

The debate will be limited to those candidates who have satisfied the following criteria:

1. Announced a formal campaign for President: and

2. Filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission; and

3. Met all U.S. constitutional requirements; and

****4. Garnered at least 5% of the national electorate as determined by an average of the most recent national telephone polls of registered voters conducted by non-partisan public opinion polling organizations leading up to the registration deadline as determined by Fox News Channel and the Republican Party of Iowa or garnered an average of at least 5% in the most recent polls of Iowa voters conducted by the American Research Group and the Des Moines Register.***** To exclude candidates is a slap in the face of the grassroots of America who have a right to choose a good candidate, and to exclude someone based upon their poll numbers limits Americans’ ability to see all the candidates available. This gives them unprecedented control over the election, by keeping the status quo for the top tier the same. Please e-mail the Iowa GOP by contacting them through the website below, and let them know what we think:

http://www.iowagop.net/

[dit_xi]

Holy Cow! Hunter's Rangers, let's FReep the Iowa GOP!

[Kevmo]

We have been.

[dit_xi]

I just got home from work. Long day at the hospital. Too many sick folks.

[hattend]

How can the lower tier people have a chance to move up if they are excluded?

[pissant]

Yep. Hunter will be above 5% by then anyway, but lets give them a damn earful.

[no dems]

let's FReep the Iowa GOP!

Does anyone have an e-mail address for the Iowa GOP?

[calcowgirl]

Call and write often—Do not limit the debate participants!

Fox News
yourcomments@foxnews.com

---

Iowa Republican Party

Mary Tiffany, communications director
(515) 282-8105
mtiffany@iowagop.org

Ray Hoffmann
Chairman
Sioux City
rayhoffmann@iowagop.org

Leon Mosley
Co Chairman
Waterloo
lmosley7@mchsi.com

Chuck Laudner
Executive Director
Des Moines
claudner@iowagop.org

Paula Dierenfeld
Legal Counsel
Des Moines
psd@nyemaster.com

Kathy Pearson
Pres. IFRW
Cedar Rapids
kpearson@kaas-emp.com

Phyllis Kelly
National Committeewoman
Charles City
phyllisk@fiai.net

Steve Roberts
National Committeeman
Des Moines
steveroberts@lawiowa.com

[calcowgirl]

Yep—see above.

[Antoninus]

No reason for me to watch it, then.

[Antoninus]

Sent the following to all the above:

Dear Fox News,

Excluding candidates based on polling data this far out before a single vote has been cast is ludicrous. Using your formula of the 5% threshold in the polls, John Kerry—the eventual Democratic nominee—would have been excluded from a debate in November 2003.

Duncan Hunter is a serious candidate and must be included in any serious debate. I have always assumed that Fox was “fair and balanced” but I may have to revise my opinion based on this ridiculous decision to play favorites.

A full 25-30% of likely GOP primary voters remain undecided. Why not give them a shot at making an informed choice, rather than a loaded choice from a few frontrunners who have done little to energize anyone at this point?

Sincerely,

(insert my name here)

[calcowgirl]

Good letter! (I may steal from it, lol).

I haven’t written Fox yet, but did send 7 separate emails to the IA GOP names.
(They *still* haven’t responded! Imagine that!)

[AmericanInTokyo]

If Congressman Hunter made it to 6%, why they'd move the threshold to 7. If he made it to 7%, they would move the goal post to to 8. If he made it to 8%, they would move it to 9. If he made it to (you get the idea).....

I have watched too much of the Republican Party Country Club-Establishment operate waaaay too much over the last 45 years to not smell a skunk. What can you do???

I for one will bet Hunter has a clever tactical comeback, just like he did to those whining State Department p*ssies who don't want to go to Iraq--and can have some good-old fashion American FUN out of it and get traction regardless.

If this GOP Establishment force cannot be met head on--which it probably cannot be, then, using classic aikido, spin it around so that their own offensive energy against Hunter designed to silence him or others is turned full circle right back upon them, and somehow ends up damaging them in return. It can be done.

I will be thinking of some ways. Others out there, if the lightbulb comes on and you have a good one, send an ASAP email to Duncan Hunter Central, OK?

This sucks. But, (cooling down here), let's fix their wagons somehow.

Maybe we can prove a point, make them look like fools, and have a chuckle in the process.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Idea #1:

Arrange to have individual members, on the front lines serving in the United State military, in Iraq and elsewhere around the world (Europe, Korean Peninsula, Central America, Pacific, etc), and who have access to an e mail account, to send a personal message to FOX TV, mentioning where they serve in our Armed Forces, that they can get FOX by satellite to our military installations, and that they want to see Duncan Hunter and some of the other candidates, not just a select few, in view of fairness. Hailing from Iowa will be the best.

They can copy local media in Iowa as well as the Iowa Republican Party with their plea.

THAT would make them, those exclusionary types in the party bureaucracy, look like abject fools indeed.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Check it out (when you get up Thursday a.m.!)

BUMP

[incindiary]

I’m mad at Fox news for something else they did today (on an unrelated story) and now this. The MSM in general is definitely on my **** list right now.

[AmericanInTokyo]

I am going to give them a piece of my mind, in the next few moments, via cyberspace you can be sure of that!

[Kimberly GG]

Thank you for posting the links. I have written them all. This is an absolutely outrageous decision by them and Fox news.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Morning bump.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Agreed. Definitely agreed.

[incindiary]

"I am going to give them a piece of my mind, in the next few moments, via cyberspace you can be sure of that!"

Thanks!! ;-D