Libertarian and Green Gubernatorial Candidates Call on Paladino and Cuomo to Agree to Open Debates

Press Release

Polls Show Majority of Voters Want a Third Party Alternative

The Green and Libertarian Parties candidates for Governor joined together today in calling for any debates to be open to all ballot qualified candidates. To exclude them would be a subversion of the basic principles of democracy that the major parties pay lip service to.

The Libertarians and Greens are the third and fourth largest political parties in the country. They noted that a majority of voters support the development of third parties. In a Sept. 17 Gallup poll, 58% of Americans said a "third major party was needed" while only 35% felt that the Democrats and Republicans do an adequate job of representing the public.

Both Howard Hawkins and Warren Redlich have been left out of recent polling and given no explanation for this omission. Pollsters have made a critical decision for voters by not including them. Without sufficient polling numbers, debate hosts don't feel obligated to include America's biggest third party and their candidates. Ballot qualification is determined by the amount of votes received in the governor's race.

Warren Redlich, the Libertarian nominee, and Howie Hawkins, the Green nominee pointed out that Cuomo (D-I-WF) and Paladino (R-C-T) have very similar platforms, while the Greens and Libertarians provide real choices to the public. Once the bastion of freedom and democracy, New York is starting to resemble the plaything of colonial overlords with it's corruption and ruling hubris.

Redlich commented that "Cuomo and Paladino both claim they will get spending under control, but neither offers a real plan. I'm the only candidate who spells out where spending cuts should fall. Howie and I disagree in some areas, but we both agree that corporate welfare must end. This is a stark contrast with Cuomo, who is in bed with special interests, and Paladino, who is one the biggest cronies in crony capitalism. And we both support open debates so the people can better see such differences."

Hawkins said that the two major party candidates share conservative economic agendas. While Cuomo distinguishes his moderate positions on social issues like abortion from Paladino's social extremism, Hawkins said Paladino's social issue policies are not in play because they would never go anywhere in the State Assembly.

"With the Illinois Senate Green Party candidate polling near 10%, third-party candidates are having a significant effect on elections this year. Voters are unhappy with both major parties and are looking for something better. Inclusive debates, and polls, will serve the people," noted Redlich.

"After the primary, Andy Cuomo told the media that he has the same Tea Party agenda as Paladino but he would be more effective than 'Crazy Carl' by cutting public spending without offensive remarks. How is it that in one of the most liberal states in the country the media wants to pretend that only two economic conservatives are running for office? My pro-labor alternative is in the mainstream of the progressive political tradition of New York. Cuomo and Paladino are so conservative that Lazio as the Conservative Party nominee didn't see any point in running," Hawkins pointed out.

"Public jobs for full employment, single payer health care, fully funded schools, making the rich pay their fair share of taxes, and a ban on hydrofracking -- these are five policies that have widespread support among New Yorkers. My Green New Deal, the progressive prosperity alternative to the conservative austerity agendas of Cuomo and Paladino, will not have a champion in the debates if I am not included," Hawkins added.

Hawkins and Redlich noted that if just the two "three-party" candidates, Cuomo and Paladino, are in the debates, there will actually be six parties represented even though only two candidates will be allowed to speak, since both are on three ballot lines. Any ballot line that receives 50,000 votes becomes an official political party, with much easier ability to nominate candidates for office. Allowing Cuomo and Paladino to each try to establish three parties at the same time makes it far more difficult for real third parties to emerge, especially when their candidates are hidden so far down on the ballot by the fake third parties.

"The two major parties are always so willing to send our young men and women to die in foreign lands to protect the oil and gas companies under the guise of creating democracy, but they fight as hard at the can to prevent a real multi-party democracy here in America," asked Hawkins, a former Marine who organized opposition to the Vietnam War.

The US Department of State, in promoting "democracy" in other countries, states: "Simply permitting the opposition access to the ballot is not enough. The party in power may enjoy the advantages of incumbency, but the rules and conduct of the election contest must be fair. It means debate. Democracies thrive on openness and accountability." Yet the US is virtually alone among the world's democracies in effectively limiting access to the ballot, funding, media, and debates to the two major political parties.

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