What are KING5's standards for "public support" and "fundraising"?

Nothing says Serious Candidate like trying ot force your way into a news station.

I supose we should just assume that if he gets fined, he will not pay it and offer some platitude that, like all working people, he has to choose between feeding his family, and paying his fines for trespass and battery.

See Dan's post below

Good for Dixon. At last he's figured out how to get some press.

cheap. political. stunt.

serious candidate my ass. anyone who understands the electoral system of the US knows that its not for lack of want that we have two parties-- our electoral structure creates them. we'd have to start all over in order to have a viable multi-party system. until then we just get these nuttos.

Dixon doesnt have a chance in hell to win, and in all likelihood he will make a fool of himself, but it is just not very democratic to prevent Green Party candidates from debating. They let the loony Libertarians in? And not the loony Greens?

Our 2 party dictatorship-democracy can teach those crazy Euros a thing or two. Oh wait, they let the Greens debate in those countries.

Oh well, the sad thing is that to say otherwise is to be non pragmatic.

What I don't get is why he can't enter a TV news office in the first place.

It's not like he was trying to barge past the LOBBY into a STUDIO. He might have merely been registering a complaint or reporting some news to one of their reporters.

That said, voting for him is a vote for Bush controlling the Senate.

Oooh! I'm so more likely to vote for him now!

Aaron is an interesting person and while he's not going to win and has some significant flaws (voting record, for one), I'm glad he's running.

Aaron was a Black Panther in the '60s and to this day does community work in the Central District and is seriously dedicated to the peace movement.

The Democrats should be strong enough to withstand third parties.

That is so fucked up! Now I'm going to vote for Aaron Dixon.

Aaron has done more for the inner city youth than drunk Mcgavick. I can not beleive that fundraising is a way to keep candidates out of a debate.

The guy doesnt have a chance in hell, and most of that is due to the Green's lack of organizing capacity but that does not give this system the right to keep him out.

I thought we wanted to encourage more participation? Or do the party hacks just want to encourage more participation in the 2 party system?

And why is the libertarian allowed in?

If the The Stranger had any cojones, they would invite all the candidates to a debate. Including Dixon.

Should every nut that files for election be given media attention. What about neo-n@zis and constitutional party types that file every now and then.

Or should they and their party have to meet some minimum standards before they are taken seriously.

Look if the greens got some folks elected to the LDs then I assure you they would be invited to every debate. The fact is that they have almost ZERO support. This is not a function of the media, don't need it for LD's etc were you can doorbell or call every single voter. It is a function of the fact that 99% of people don't agree with them. Their policies make little sense, their candidates are either loons or criminals, and their organization can best be described as nonexistent.

All TV stations are pretty tight security-wise these days--KOMO is set up like a bank, with a receptionist behind safety glass who has to unlock the door for you if they want to let you in.

By the way, it's nice that Aaron has done lots for youth and all, but what specifically are his qualifications to serve in the U.S. Senate? If you can't think of anything (I can't), it's not the system that's keeping him out.

Green candidates are criminals? Which ones?

The Green platform, if you can even call it that, is an amalgam of all the radical left's pet issues (legalize pot, free Mumia/Peltier, ban the death penalty, hold hands and sing kumbayah, blah, blah blah). The only third parties that have ever gained traction in this country focused on a single, large issue that was critical at the time. The Greens are too scattershot to serve as anything other than spoilers.

Im not advocating for him to be in the senate. I think he is a lousy candidate. Pay attention. Im saying he has a right to debate.

If they dont matter, why fear them? Why not just send your army of party hacks out to get you those votes?

Who have the libertarians elected?

My kingdom for instant runoff voting or another sane voting system. Solves two problems -- no need for a primary, and does a much better job of representing a voter's will in a vote.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting

I'm sorry, WHY should he be allowed to debate with the grownups? He's not a candidate. Not "not a good candidate" -- he's NOT A CANDIDATE. His campaign is a mental health exercise, not politics. He has no constituency, no party, no ideas, no nothing.

The libertarian shouldn't be there either, but at least he was able to raise some dough (mostly his own).

Debates are pretty stupid to begin with, but when you allow the kook brigade to take podium time away from the real people, you cheapen them even more. Free speech? Grab a soapbox and head to the park.

J.R.

KING in particular is highly security-conscious, the result of some lunatic trying to ram his car through the Dexter St. entrance a number of years ago. That's why that horrible "TV Family" sculpture sits out there on the sidewalk; not as a gesture to low-brow public art, but as a rather effective impact barricade.

And if the "big boys" won't debate the fringe candidates, I certainly don't see why they can't debate each other; if only to show the voters how whacked out their platforms are (not that we need reminding in most cases). It only serves to better inform the electorate.

"Green candidates are criminals? Which ones?"

Dixon

Dixon (green) was polling 4-5% which is approximately where Nader was at nationally. Guthrie has been polling much lower at 1-2%.

I think it's pretty illegitimate that they weighted funding much higher than poll position. At that link, Guthrie said he has $1.2 million but only spent $40,000, while Dixon spent $20,000. This probably means that Guthrie doesn't intend to spend the money, and it is just the value of his bank account. He's buying his way in like Ross Perot

Honestly, I don't even think the Libertarian should have been allowed in. He has no chance of winning and will serve as a distraction at best. Dixon's an utter joke. This arrest is what, his 19th? I wonder if now that he's running, he'll actually bother to vote in an election.

SeMe says:
"Who have the libertarians elected?"
We have over 600 libertarians in office right now across the USA. About half of those were elected, and half appointed. The Mayor of Sumas, WA is a Libertarian. So are members of the Kent City Council. By the way, the guy on the Pierce County Charter Review Commission who got IRV on the ballot is a Libertarian.
We're socially tolerant and fiscally responsible and pro-peace. The new sensible center. We're the third largest party in the nation and we are growing. Join us!

Bruce, Thansk for stopping by. Compared to the greens I think that Libertarians are doing a much better job of party building. Getting people elected to local office is how you show people you can govern, and also build experience in your party/canidates. However, I personally will not find a third party remotely credible until they get elect a decent number of statewide/LD candidates. I am also a proud Democrat. I do respect the Libertarians, as opposed to the Republicans, for their consistency on limited government.

Honestly I think this applies to the candidates as well. Cantwell started in the leg, moved to congress and then to the Senate. People could see her in action and she could also see first hand how legislatures work. While it is not a 100% requirement, it is nice if people get government and legislative experience.

If I may ask, why have you not run for one of your local leg seats. You seem like a smart, articulate person and wealthy enough to finance the beginning if not the entirety of an LD campaign. It just seems like a waste to go to straight to the Senate, were, like it not, you are not going to win. Wouldn't it be better to focus on a race that, with sufficient doorbelling, phonebanking, and mailings, you may just win. It would go a long way to showing people the libertarians are credible.

If Greens and Libertarians want to be taken seriously, they need to take running for office seriously. It requires time and dedication and Dixon and Guthrie are unwilling to put in either.

Raising money isn't the end-all of campaigning, but if you can't raise more than 25 grand, it's because you're not even trying. Even truly insane candidates can raise 10 times more than that for lower offices because they're serious about running.

And frankly, if you're unwilling to put the time and energy into fundraising even a meagre amount, you're almost certainly not going to put in the energy for every other aspect of campaigning.

Complaining your half-assed campaign isn't getting enough attention is like complaining your six-year old's lemonade stand isn't getting covered by the Times as a competitor to Starbucks.

Well, actually that's an unfair comparison - The six-year old is probably trying their best. Guthrie and Dixon just want to put on a circus sideshow and then act surprised when everyone else treats them accordingly.

I want to know why Democrats are so uptight. The addition of Guthrie to the debates made that debate worth watching. Adding a true Leftist (I don't care how often he votes) would have blown the f-ing roof off that place.

All you asses ripping on Aaron should try running for office sometime as a Dem if you think that the electoral system works. See what running on ideas is about. See how easy it is for an insane person to raise $250k, as the above post suggested. See how polling works to structure candidates' issues, which are empty opportunistic platitudes most of the time.

The only thing that keeps the system remotely honest is the media. But those folks get so excited to befriend, or have "access" to, politicians, that they end up basically being part of the problem. Scandals are about individual behaviour and not systemic corruption and legalized bribery. The worship of incumbents, the obsession with "war chests" instead of ideas, and the skewing of attention to major parties all work to ensure that Ds and Rs are seen as the only reasonable choice, even in cases where they're totally unfit for the job.

The libertarians challenge this mainly cause they're often fucking rich, and locally happen to have deep ties to Microsoft millionaires. They look so powerful, the mainstream media begins to feel hypocritical for not including them. But even more, I suspect, KING 5 is scared of a well-funded lawsuit against them for violating their own rules which were meant to ensure D & R control.

The Greens are protesting the fact that the media is worshipping power when it should be promoting democratic debate, is making it near-impossible to challenge the politics of inequality. Dismiss them if you want. It's certainly easier to say they're stupid and should work through proper channels than it is to acknowledge that there's no way their left politics could ever make it through proper channels in the first place.

Well said Try it: It is about allowing people to speak and not ignore voices you dont agree with. King 5 should be ashamed, they let a guy in ( the Libertarian) who admitted on camera that he raised 1 million of his own money, which he has no plan of spending, so that he can be at the debate. Wow. Nice job. And they arrest Aaron? They should have arrested that joker. Notice though, how McGavick try to agree with him so that he can steal some of his votes. Smart move on drunk McGavick.

The Dems should try a similar strategy.

I wonder why if they hate Greens so much they still want their votes? Why if they think they are an exercise in insanity, do they cry when they don’t vote for their spineless war supporting assess? If they dislike Greens, why beg for their votes as you’re insulting them, instead of trying to create alliances?

Dem and the hacks who love them love to accuse the hippie Greens of being mentally ill, non pragmatic, insane and blah, blah, blah...

But yet they still feel that they deserve their votes. That the hippies should vote for them because they need to keep the R's out. Not because they have a platform that the lefties can find something in it to support.

The smart thing for Dems to do is to advocate for Aaron to be at those debates and then show his supporters that there are things that Cantwell supports that they can support. Environment, non privatization of social security and other things where she is left of center. I dont know, maybe they can win some people over.

Dems h are insane if they think that by insulting the 5 possibly 6% lefty vote theyre going to get those votes. By repeating tired insults and questioning certain voters mental capacity. To be honest, I would say Hippie voters are more informed than your average DEM voter. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. To quote Gore Vidal, a Dem... "The best case against Democracy is a 5 minute conversation with the average voter."

Cantwell will of course going to win this election, and Aaron's campaign is absolutely worthless, and the Greens have absolutely no idea how to build a successful campaign in these conditions, but they still have the right to debate and stupid rules set up to protect the 2 party dictatorship make no sense, if Dems fear Green Candidates like Aaron, I pity the fools when true candidates come up and run on third party tickets.

King 5 had set the rules for participation in the debate. Guthrie read the rules, and figured out a way he could participate in the debate. He may have "gamed" King 5's system (since he's not planning on spending the money), but that just means either (a) King 5 needs to change its rules for future debates; or (b) the Green Party needs rich candidates or friends. But I don't blame King 5 for trying to weed out all the nutjobs.

right there's no such thing as a rich nutjob.

For all of you who actually identify with the "real" issues and "true" democracy.

For all Those who identify with and have compassion for the youth,the poor, marginalized, silenced, and oppressed.

For all Those who haven't been brain washed by your government, your media, or your white privledge.

please come to the Dixon Celebration This Saturday October 21, 2006 at Doc Maynard's in pioneer square starting at 7pm til closing.

check out www.dixon4senate.com for further details or go to
www.myspace.com/dixon4senate

WELCOME TO THE RESURRECTION OF THE SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENT IN WASHINGTON STATE!!!

ALL POWER 2 THE PEOPLE

For all the know nothings and bigots who are posting to this blog. Here's some facts:

The Green Party is only six years old in WA state, the Libertarians have been around for much longer (nationally since the late 70's). So forgive us if we aren't yet able to compete with the major parties (and their media control) that have been entrenched for the last 150-200 years.

We have succeeded in getting over 225 Greens elected to public office, mostly local.

We have over 325,000 registered Green voters nationwide, mostly in states that ALLOW voters to register Green. And we're just getting started.

Aaron Dixon is not a trained politician but is qualified to run for office as are ANY OF YOU with the courage to do so.

The Green Party is not large here but we have activists across the state and in all major metropolitan areas (Spokane, Tacoma, Seattle, Olympia, Vancouver, Bellingham, etc.) and then some (San Juans, Vashon, Bainbrige Island, etc.) and we're organized statewide with twice annual conventions.

go to www.wagreens.us to learn more or national site www.gp.org

We organized conventions in 10 cities and got 2500 signatures to place Aaron on the ballot (1000 valid voter signatures required) in a one week period last July.

We publish a statewide newsletter, the EverGreen Voice (online at above state party website).

Aaron's campaign has raised over $60,000 whereas Guthrie's raised $30,000 before he put in his life savings as collateral to get into the debates.

Aaron's campaign has a distinct multicultural flavor and a diversity of volunteers that represent his primary constituencies: youth, working poor, left activists, peace activists, etc. who are coming out of the woodwork in support.

Guthrie's campaign is lilly white in terms of supporters.
(no offense to Bruce or his supporters, just stating a factoid).

I've been to every GP convention since our founding in May 2000.

We are a diverse group, if small in numbers. And we're here to stay.

If you really looked at our platform (instead on nitpicking) you'd probably agree with 99% of it, even if you're a diehard Democrat.

Okay now that you've read this, instead of attacking me or the Green Party or Aaron Dixon, say something intelligent and non-violent that would convince me I should support your party and vote for your candidates (which I do occasionally if they are the only truely progressive candidates on the ballot and not just parroting the latest iteration of the centrist Democratic party line).

Chris

Chris,

Save your breath. We are dealing with a bunch of punk-ass squishie liberals here. They let their votes be taken for granted every two years, then they whine that they're being taken for granted.

For those of you who think "lesser evil" is a strategy, here is a quote from Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, Hunter S. Thompson’s book about the 1972 presidential race. See how far your brilliant strategy has taken you in the past 34 years:

"The argument was familiar. I had even made it myself, here and there, but I was beginning to sense something very depressing about it. How many more of these goddamn elections are we going to have to write off as lame but ‘regrettably necessary’ holding actions? And how many more of these stinking double-downer sideshows will we have to go through before we can get ourselves straight enough to put together some kind of national election that will give me and at least 20 million people I tend to agree with a chance to vote for something, instead of always being faced with that old familiar choice between the lesser of two evils? I have been through three presidential elections, now, but it has been twelve years since I could look at a ballot and see a name I wanted to vote for … I understand, along with a lot of other people, that the big thing, this year is Beating Nixon. But that was also the big thing, as I can recall, twelve years ago in 1960 – and as far as I can tell, we've gone from bad to worse to rotten since then, and the outlook is for more of the same."

Keep it up boys and girls, you're doing great. Hillary '08! And 80,000 more troops for Iraq! I'm sure those 80,000 will feel much better knowing that it was a Democrat (and a woman) who sent them to kill and die.

If you read through the debate rules cited by King 5, you will find that they don't play by their own rules. Instead they exclude candidates like Aaron Dixon and other Greens from the polls in the "out-period" discussed in the Debate Standards Project Report, cited by King 5, and then point to low-poll numbers for exclusion during the "in-period."

If King 5 and other media outlets would simply follow the rules cited by the PEW Charitable Trust's Report that they claim to use for exclusion criteria, the debates would include more candidates during the "out-period", and candidates that are outside of the Democratic and Republican mold would have a far more equal playing field on which to compete.

Listen Hitler Youth,..er, I mean HILARY Youth (!),

The reason Aaron Dixon is important is NOT for the reason of getting the Senate seat (that would be nice, of course), but important for challenging fascism thru grassroots organization, regardless of whom or what in a large public forum.

The act of voting is NOT a serious challenge to power. It NEVER has been. Read "The Federalist Papers" by James Madison (a 'founding father') for the proof.

Or as Emma Goldman said (and the last two presidential elections proved CONCLUSIVELY), "if voting actually changed anything, it would be illegal".

Taking a healthy bowel movement after dinner does more to change the enviroment in a positive way than Maria Cantwell ever has; and her Congressional Voting Record proves this.

Did you all sleep thru the last two presidential elections? Maybe you need to go rent "Farrenheit 911" again and re-watch how the democrats handed the presidental election to Bush.

The democrats had no practical platform or program during the race, and they REFUSED to challenge the vote fraud in the south when it occured. And many of them later voted for the war in Iraq,...including Senator Cantwell!

Some of you dare criticize Dixon for going to jail around legitimate issues effecting black people, and ultimately all people.

Dummies...!

I challenge ANYONE here to name one time in American history where either party did anything for working people, without those same people having to get off their collective asses and picket, sit-in, get beat up by police/nazis/klan/mafia, and/or go to jail for engaging in Constitutionally protected speech. Remember WTO?

Aaron is by far the more qualified of all the Senatorial candidates for a host of reasons, but here's big one: he coordinated the feeding and medical care over 1,000 children in the Seattle-area DAILY for over 10 years as the captain of the Black Panther Party.

It took FBI and SPD repression to shut down the party, but many of those programs (the Carolyn Downs Clinic on Yesler, for example) still exist. Free breakfast wouldn't exist in the public schools without people like Aaron Dixon. Check your history.

Show me ANY candidate in any race with a comparable record of service to the electorate and their families! Name one! I challenge you!

Here's a better challenge: How may of YOU reading this can honestly say that a life-changing program you started, that you are no longer working with directly, is still in existance over 30 years after you played your key role in making it happen?

Is that why this city is called "(C)attle"? Is it because you deaftokkkrats are arrogantly ignorant, drug abusing, two-legged sheep and cattle; just like the republikkklan/Fox News crowd?

Anyone who votes republican or democrat in any race, and then dares to complain about either party, while at the same time hating on those of us who vote with our conscience deserves to lose what little freedom they have, deserves to be legally banned from marrying who they want, deserves to be persecuted by so-called Christians, deserves to live in fear of terrorism, deserves to be a victim of violent crime, deserves to be jailed and deported, and deserves to die in complete agony at the hands of those they consider their political opponents; since all of these things come to pass because of continued loyalty to the oppressive doctrines and practices of Amerikkkan imperialism and worldwide white supremacy.

You're either part of the problem or part of the solution. Choose wisely. Or face a severe penalty.

Getting arrested was a matter of pride during the civil rights, labor and antiwar movements. I am proud of being arrested for what I fought for. The reason you have rights today is because People went out in the streets and fought for these rights. NOTHING HAS BEEN GIVEN TO THE ORDINARY PEOPLE.

These attacks on Aaron Dixon are racist, classist and disgusting.