Reply #16: Again (sigh) it's not a matter of "earned" [View All]

[eileen from OH]

it's a matter of a)realistic chance b)why? and c)who does it benefit/hurt?

a) Dennis does not have a realistic chance. Period. That ain't arbitrary, that is truth.

b) Why? To give airtime to get message out. I think we're past that at this point. I'm not saying shut him down, or shut him up. But there is nothing he can say or do that will change his chances. It isn't a matter of saying that he doesn't qualify for air time, just that he doesn't qualify for this debate.

c) It doesn't help him significantly, at least as far as his chances to win are concerned. But it DOES hurt Kerry and Edwards and it does hurt the people who need to choose between these two.

Again, one of these guys are going to face Bush. We need to see them in a face-to-face debate (or what passes for a debate nowadays.) And, again, NOT because they need to get THEIR message out but because they (and we) need to see them in the same kind of forum in which one of them will face Bush.

eileen from OH