ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609180014
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
AS MUCH as we cringe at the prospect of having to watch him, Ross Perot deserves to be included in a debate with the major parties' standard-bearers.
President Clinton wants Perot included; Republican Bob Dole wants to go one-on-one against Clinton. But their political preferences should be irrelevant to the deliberations of the Commission on Presidential Debates, which is to make a recommendation this week.
Since Perot participated in the 1992 presidential debates, wound up getting 19 percent of the popular vote, has qualified for matching funds and is expected to be on the ballot in all 50 states this year, there is little justification for excluding him. (The fact that he's an ego-tripping crank isn't enough.)
OK, then, what about Harry Browne, the Libertarian Party's candidate? And Ralph Nader, running under the banner of the Green Party? The more the merrier?
Well, that adage applies to circus clowns climbing out of the midget sput-sput car. But presidential debates are already too much of a circus. As the centerpiece of a national election campaign, they should exclude self-important journalists, leaving the candidates to ask each other questions. They also should leave out candidates who haven't a shot at winning.
Unfortunately, the commission's criteria for deciding which candidates have ``a realistic chance'' are vague. More specific standards are needed, if only to maintain the nonpartisan commission's moral authority. It's troubling, too, that so much weight is given to opinion polls, since polling data changes day by day - and can be changed by the debates. (If opinion can't be swayed by debates, why hold them?)
In 1992, more than 40 percent of voters indicated the TV debates played a part in their eventual decision. Perot's numbers got a boost from his debate performance then. They may, unfortunately, again. But it's not the debate commission's role to protect establishment candidates from third-party challengers who've qualified nationwide.
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENTby CNB