In 1988, the League of Women Voters was replaced by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which is controlled by the Republican and Democratic parties. The CPD established a rule requiring third-party candidates to achieve over 15% support in five national polls to participate in debates, a significant barrier. This system has effectively prevented competition from third parties. By 2024, the two major parties began negotiating debate details directly with networks, excluding any other participants, highlighting a lack of compromise and the detrimental effects of a broken political system.
"The most notable rule the CPD instituted was requiring any third-party candidate who wants to participate in these nationally televised debates to receive greater than 15% support in at least five national polls - an effectively impossible hurdle."
"The two major parties have, in other words, constructed a system specifically designed to ensure no one else can compete."
"Broken government is serious and dangerous stuff. The two major parties fight for control like petulant children wrestling over a television remote."
"When their inability to compromise led to a government shutdown in 2011, Standard & Poor's downgraded this country's debt from AAA to AA for the first time in roughly."
#presidential-debates #political-system #third-party-candidates #commission-on-presidential-debates #government-shutdown
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