Kucinich Barred from Iowa Dem Debate, While Alan Keyes Gets to Participate in GOP's

Posted by GottaLaff , Cliff Schecter's Blog at 12:54 PM on December 12, 2007.

Dennis Kucinich is not happy, and who can blame him?

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D) is being excluded from this week's Iowa presidential debate because he has not rented office space in the Hawkeye State, his campaign said Wednesday.

The Des Moines Register informed the campaign that Kucinich is not invited because the newspaper determined "that a person working out of his home did not meet our criteria for a campaign office and full-time paid staff in Iowa," the campaign said.

The campaign blasted the decision to exclude the lawmaker from the debate.

Seems every year there's another debate controversy involving those not in the "top tier". Just let them in. How hard is that?

"The Iowa caucuses have been portrayed as having national implications, and if the Register has decided to use hair-splitting technicalities to exclude the leading voice of the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party, then the entire process is suspect," the campaign said in a statement about the "arbitrary and unreasonable exclusion."

The campaign claims that Kucinich has also been barred from public appearances by "the Iowa Democratic Party, Iowa Public Television, and well-funded political interests..."

Kucinich always has good things to say, and says them in a straightforward, challenging way. Let him speak.

UPDATE: Alan Keyes can debate. Dennis Kucinich cannot. Okay then.

There is one additional Republican presidential candidate who will be on the stage here at the GOP Des Moines Register/Iowa Public Television debate this afternoon: Alan Keyes.

This will be the first major debate this cycle featuring the former presidential candidate and ambassador, who most recently faced off against Barack Obama in the 2004 Illinois Senate race (even though he actually hails from Maryland). Keyes did participate in the Tavis Smiley-moderated GOP debate in September, which the top Republican candidates skipped.

I won't be able to watch. Can't say I'm too upset about that.

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you want to get Kucinich into the Democratic debate, contact the Des Moines Register here

Tagged as: election08, kucinich, debates, keyes

GottaLaff is a regular blogger for Cliff Schecter's Blog