Dear Friends,
LAST WEEK’S PODCAST, with Charles Goldman and Ed Fallon:
(02:57) Why Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is being excluded from the debates;
(19:42) Trump has no plan to address inflation;
(38:57) The not-so-subtle “Trump or Death” flag;
(54:20) Chickens own this British town, with Kathy Byrnes Fallon.
Last year, my wife, Kathy, literally fell into a rabbit hole. She was spared encounters with hookah-smoking caterpillars and creepy-smiley cats, but did wrench a knee badly.
Last week, I fell into a different kind of rabbit hole while writing this blog. I entered the conversation with this question “Why are the corporate media excluding Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from the debates?”
The deeper I dug, the more I realized that the media (specifically CNN and ABC, the two debate sponsors) are less to blame for excluding Kennedy than the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and both parties’ presumptive nominee.
So, here I am on Fathers Day, rewriting a blog to go along with last week’s talk show/podcast when I should be doing what fathers do on this hallowed day: as little as possible.
As US News noted on May 16, “If there’s one thing that President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump can agree on, it’s that they want Robert F. Kennedy Jr. out of the presidential election.”
Indeed, polls suggest that Kennedy draws votes from both candidates. Neither Trump nor Biden wants their support syphoned off by third-party candidates. Biden in particular is already likely to lose support to Jill Stein (Green Party), Chase Oliver (the liberalish Libertarian Party nominee), and Cornel West (former Green Party prospect now running as an independent).
(Of related interest is a recent statement from Kennedy about his internal polling, which shows that 57% of his support comes from would-be Trump voters. That may be why Trump is ramping up his attacks on Kennedy, as noted in a May 11 AP story, calling Kennedy “’fake,’ a ‘Democrat Plant’ and ‘Radical Left Liberal who’s been put in place’ to help the Democratic president.”)
As noted in Politico on April 4: “The [Democratic Party and its NGO allies’] bombardment against Kennedy has grown so intense that the campaign is crying foul.”
Biden has gone so far as to refuse to participate in a debate that includes Kennedy. His campaign has also insisted on holding the first debate earlier than ever, doing away with a live audience, and bypassing the Commission on Presidential Debates, which has managed every presidential debate since 1984.
CNN and ABC conceded to Biden’s demands, and Trump went along with them, too.
While most on the political Left are quietly going along with this dramatic disruption of tradition, some are unhappy and have spoken out. As noted in the Washington Examiner, May 15: “Polling and elections analyst Nate Silver slammed Biden’s reasons for wanting to rewrite the rules. By setting its own rules, he said, Biden’s team is broadcasting weakness and torching his position as the ‘norms and traditions’ candidate.”
Not surprisingly, Kennedy’s campaign has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) over CNN’s adoption of the debate criteria, most notably the “presumptive nominee” designation afforded to Trump and Biden.
My read is that the FEC is likely to rule in Kennedy’s favor.
And it should, for three reasons:
1. Fairness. Kennedy is performing well by numerous metrics — way better than any independent or third-party candidate in over 30 years. He’s earned the right to be included in debates.
2. Content. In a three-way debate, Kennedy would likely raise perspectives on foreign policy, corporate domination, environmental protection, and the federal deficit that you won’t hear in a tête-à-tête between Trump and Biden.
3. Popular demand. A recent Harvard CAPS/Harris survey found that “71% think the debates should include third-party or independent candidates that clear a viable threshold, such as RFK, Jr.”
So, after spending way more time in the rabbit hole than I wanted to or planned to, that’s my take on who is primarily to blame for the exclusion of Kennedy from presidential debates: Biden, Trump, and to a lesser extent, the corporate media.
I do have to say a few more things about the media giants sponsoring these debates.
Founded by Ted Turner in 1980, CNN is now a multinational news channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery … which is owned by Advance Publications … which is owned by Donald Newhouse … who is one of the wealthiest billionaires in the world.
Furthermore, one of CNN’s most vocal board members is conservative billionaire John Malone, who said in a Vox, August 22, 2022 story that he “would like to see CNN evolve.” Anyone wanna guess which direction that evolution is going?
Then there’s ABC, which is owned by Disney … headed by Robert Iger … a former Democrat who once flirted with running for president.
So, you’ve got CNN with a right-wing bias, and ABC with a left-wing bias. Sounds balanced, right? Not really. These uber-rich giants are two wings of the same increasingly flightless bird — the Endless Growth Economy (a.k.a., the status quo) — which is at the root of what’s leading us down the pathway to societal collapse.
Biden represents the status quo. Trump IS the status quo and only pretends to rail against it.
Kennedy? Yeah, also tied to the status quo. But his message troubles the ruling elite of both parties: “Why am I running? Because I don’t like the way the country is going. And I know millions of Americans don’t either. I don’t like the wars. I don’t like the censorship. I don’t like the addiction to war — both political parties are now the war party. I don’t like the corporate capture of our government — the corrupt merger of state and corporate power. And I think I’m in a unique position to unravel it.” (from a Kennedy for President mailing)
To be clear, I’m not endorsing Kennedy. As a journalist who’s not bought and paid for, I must and will speak truth to power regardless of the fallout.
The reality is, love him or hate him, Kennedy oughta be included in debates. He’s polling far better than any third-party or independent candidate since Ross Perot.
Perot. Remember him? The quirky, uber-rich Texan who ran for President in 1992? Perot was the last independent candidate to participate in presidential debates (three, in fact). He bagged 19% of the popular vote that year.
That led the political establishment to change the rules so it was virtually impossible for any candidate other than the Democratic and Republican nominee to qualify for a debate.
Kennedy is the only candidate in the past 32 years to come close to navigating a pathway around those restrictive rules. Whether he’ll succeed is still up in the air.
Thanks for reading, listening, and doing your part for a better world.
Ed Fallon
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