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The ABC/Facebook debate came at a pivotal time in the presidential primary process. Untold numbers of undecided voters in New Hampshire tuned in to this debate. Other voters may have tuned in order to reconsider their loyalties in light of the results of last weeks Iowa Caucus. But the ABC did not provide voters with a complete picture of the race. The network decided to lock Democratic candidate Congressman Dennis Kucinich out of the debate.
According to the Kucinich campaign, ABC would not allow the progressive Congressman to debate because he did not place fourth place or better in the Iowa Caucus. Kucinich emphasized the point that his campaign had decided to bypass Iowa, spending the majority of its resources in the Granite State.
The ABC lock out is particularly harmful to the Kucinich campaign in that it will leave New Hampshire voters with the false impression that their candidate has dropped out of the race. Kucinich was not the only candidate effected by ABC's decision making process. Had Joe Biden and Chris Dodd remained in the race they would have been denied a place in the debate as well. It is entirely possible that the fact they would be excluded made the decision to withdraw from the race a little easier for the veteran senators.
ABC used two other criteria in "narrowing the field" for the debate. Candidates had to have reached the 5 percent mark in at least 4 major surveys of New Hampshire voters. They had to reach the same mark in one of the last four major national surveys as well.
Voters should ask themselves why ABC should have the right to decide the criteria for "narrowing the field". That is the job of voters, not television network executives.
ABC has published a story about the events involving Kucinich and the debate on its website. I encourage readers to leave comments there:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics...
You can also lobby a general complaint with ABC here:
