Independents are at a disadvantage because of federal campaign finance laws, rules that dictate who can enter presidential debates, and a lack of media attention. Campaign finance rules say that a political party can only get government funding to run a race if it received a certain percentage of votes which leaves Independent candidates to fund their own campaigns. Because they are given less media coverage, they are left to find other means of exposure to raise the millions of dollars it takes to run a successful campaign in this country under what is a rigged system that is designed to support only two parties. These two parties have come to represent two basic and contrasting ideas about how politics and policy should be run.
Leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties have rigged our elections by creating a series of rules to squelch competition. It was created and enforced by a private organization known as the Commission on Presidential Debates which is unaccountable to the public, run by party insiders, funded by large multinational corporations and lobbyists, and operating in complete secrecy. To be elected president you must participate in the debates held at certain times during an election. Debates are validators. They tell Americans who the official choices are. The parties use the CPD to make sure that only their nominees, and no one else, can ever become president, or even seriously influence the presidential election. For the last 20 years, the CPD has perpetuated a two party system, keeping Independent candidates out of the debates, a system created to keep Independents from competing on a level playing field. A system run by longtime Democratic and Republican insiders such as its co-chairman and co-founder, Frank Fahrenkopf who was the former chairman of the Republican National Committee and the gaming industry’s top lobbyist.
Another important piece of the puzzle is how the DNC changed its rules. This year’s DNC rules state, “Any candidate or debate sponsor wishing to participate in DNC debates, must agree to participate exclusively in the DNC-sanctioned process. Any violation would result in forfeiture of the ability to participate in the remainder of the debate process.” These means that any candidates choosing to take part in debates that are not sanctioned by the DNC—which has happened in virtually every presidential election cycle—they would for the first time be banned from taking part in the official debates.
As Lewis Black says, “Our two-party system is a bowl of shit looking in the mirror at itself. … Basically, the last eight years, I feel, the Republicans stood around farting and the Democrats went, ‘Ooh, let me smell it.'” Simply put, for anyone to have any chance at winning they have to have a “D” or “R” beside their name.
breakingdebate 
You must be logged in to post a comment.