By now, I'm sure that many of you have heard, seen, or read about Ohio Congressman Dennis John Kucinich's lawsuit seeking to be included in tonight's MSNBC Democratic Presidential Debate in Las Vegas.
Well, Nevada district court judge Charles Thompson has issued an injunction against NBC Universal forbidding them to proceed with the debate unless Congressman Kucinich is able to participate. As expect, NBC appealed the case, and in about four minutes, the Nevada state Supreme Court will hold a thirty minute hearing to determine if the lower court's decision will stand or if it will be set aside.
According to the New York Time's political blog, "The Caucus", Kucinich's case resulted in a rare moment of agreement between Whoopi Goldberg:
"What’s more surprising to me is that no one is screaming about the fact that people are trying to keep candidates out of these television debates."
And Elisabeth Hasselbeck:
"We deserve as the citizens here to hear everyone."
So here's the question:
Should the media, or anyone else, exclude candidate(s) from a debate based on their chances of winning the election?
I don't believe anyone should be excluded from a debate so long as they are still intent on having their name on the ballot in the primary, primary run-off, general election, or general election run-off.
I'm including a poll in this diary, but I also want to read some of your comments on this issue. Most of us will agree that Dennis John Kucinich has no chance of capturing the Democratic nomination for president, but he is still running for president and I don't think he should be excluded from the debates until he formally ends his candidacy.