Clinton, Edwards seek to disenfranchise voters

Hillary Clinton and John Edwards want to exclude some of the other Democratic presidential hopefuls from future debates, a move that would disenfranchise a number of Democratic voters.

Their remarks, caught on tape by a number of television networks following Thursday’s NAACP debate in Detroit, are outrageous.

As reported by the Associated Press, the two spoke at the conclusion of the debate, most likely believing they weren’t in range of an open microphone.

“We should try to have a more serious and smaller group,” Edwards told Clinton.

She agreed, saying the debates were “trivialized” by some of the other candidates and by having too many on stage. She then said she believed “there was an effort by both of our campaigns” in the past to limit the number of candidates in debates.

“We’ve got to get back to that,” she told Edwards. “… Our guys should talk.”

Edwards agreed.

You can watch the exchange by clicking here.

Excluding candidates would be a blow to Democracy. Who isn’t serious, Edwards? Who are you to judge who is serious about being president and who isn’t?

And Clinton, as the first woman with a real shot at being president, should be sensitive to ensuring that all who want to participate in the process have that chance.

Would they exclude Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel, the constant thorns in their sides who repeatedly criticize the other Democratic contenders? Would they exclude Chris Dodd and Joe Biden, who are also in the bottom-tier of candidates?

What about our own Gov. Bill Richardson, who finds himself floating by himself between the first and second tier of candidates? Does he get to play?

It’s bad enough that the powers-that-be make it so hard for minor-party and independent candidates to participate in the election process. Now these two want to exclude those within their own party who don’t have their ability to raise tens of millions of dollars? Doing so would disenfranchise the left-wing of their party, which is better represented by Kucinich and Gravel, in addition to all supporters of other candidates whose campaigns don’t have as much cash.

Shame on Edwards, who this week has renewed his focus on combating poverty and giving a voice to the disenfranchised. Shame on Clinton, whose gender has been disenfranchised since this nation’s founding.

Kucinich rightly ripped Clinton and Edwards.

“Candidates, no matter how important or influential they perceive themselves to be, do not have and should not have the power to determine who is allowed to speak to the American public and who is not,” he said in a statement. “… Imperial candidates are as repugnant to the American people and to our democracy as an imperial president.”

Richardson hasn’t released a statement on the issue.

By the way, you can read about the debate by clicking here. Barack Obama stole the show.