Re: Gubernatorial lawsuit

["A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyross.com>]

On 29 Sep 2002 at 19:31, Dave Faneuf wrote:

> Yep you missed the deadline.  The difference between Mr. Rocky Raccoon of
> the Very Silly Party declaring his candidacy and the Green, Independent
> and Libertarian candidates are they are legit, and all three followed the
> rules in place to get their names on the ballot in Massachusetts.
> (something that is not easy to do as a third party candidate)  You are
> legit enough to force the Secretary of State to put you on the ballot then
> it is my opinon that you are legit enough to take part in these debates
> etc. df


This isn't entirely clear, and the standards have changed over the years.  I remember when 
the minor parties were the Socialist Labor Party and the Prohibitionist Party.  They were 
always on the ballot, and nobody ever heard of them.  In 1968, I had occasion to see the 
New York ballot in the New York Times, and they incuded the Peace and Freedom Party 
and the Freedom and Peace Party and a host of other variations.  We have a lot of small 
parties, and all they really need is a few people willing to go out and collect signatures.  
Most people will sign to get someone on the ballot, unless it's a Communist or a Nazi.

In order to have the Kennedy-Nixon Debate, Congress had to waive the equal-time rule, in 
order to prevent stations from having to give equal time to every minor candidate.  In 1964, 
1968, and 1972, Congress didn't waive the equal-time rule, mainly because the candidates 
didn't want debates.  After Watergate, someone came up with the way around it by having 
another organization sponsor the debates, so that the networks just carried it as a news 
event. 

The major party candidates generally are unwilling to participate in debates with minor party 
candidates.  If the minor party candidates truly got equal coverage, some of them might 
become major candidates.  It's a quandry.  The debate should include all viable candidates.  
But a debate that has too many also-rans loses its usefulness.

-- 
A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                           617.367.0468
 15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@attorneyross.com
Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         http://www.attorneyross.com