Allowing on a debate platform everyone who wants to (a) run for office or (b) participate in a political debate for some other reason is not a good idea, in my opinion. Right now, I don't know what all the criteria should be and don't want to hold up this blog entry until I think it through. However, surely, if you manage to get yourself on the ballot, despite all the obstacles Democratic and Republican legislators set up, you should be allowed to participate in a debate for that office.

This was the position of Dr. Margaret Flowers, Green Party candidate for Senator of Maryland, when she crashed a debate being held between Third Way/New Democrat Congressional Rep. Chris Van Hollen and his Republican opponent, Kathy Szeliga. (Szeliga supported opening the debate to Flowers while Van Hollen remained silent.) Spoiler alert: Flowers was physically escorted out of the venue. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/2016-senate-race/bs-m...

I have admired Dr. Margaret Flowers' goals since I first saw her on PBS' Bill Moyers Journal, talking about getting arrested in the (lawful) service of Medicare for all.

http://www.pnhp.org/states/maryland (Physicians for a National Health Program)

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02052010/profile3.html (February 5, 2010 show, featuring Dr. Flowers)

Dr. Flowers:

Flowers views the struggle for health care as part of a broader social, economic and environmental justice movement. She joined Kevin Zeese in March, 2011 as co-director of ItsOurEconomy.us in order to educate, organize and mobilize around social and economic justice issues and democratization of the economy to reduce the wealth divide. She served on the steering committee of October2011.org which organized the Occupation of Washington, DC on Freedom Plaza and continues to report on and help organize events around the country through PopularResistance.org. She co-hosts,Clearing the FOG radio which airs on We Act Radio, 1480 AM and is published regularly in TruthOut, Alternet and AlJazeera English. She has appeared in local, national and international media. Her twitter is @MFlowers8.

http://billmoyers.com/guest/margaret-flowers/

Rep. Van Hollen

Van Hollen was born in Karachi, Pakistan, the eldest of three children of American parents, Edith Eliza (née Farnsworth) and Christopher Van Hollen.[3][4] His father was a Foreign Service officer who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (1969–72) and U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives (1972–76);[5] and his mother worked in the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department, where she served as chief of the intelligence bureau for South Asia.

Van Hollen worked as a legislative assistant for defense and foreign policy to U.S. Senator Charles Mathias, a Republican from Maryland, from 1985 to 1987

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Van_Hollen

I rest my case.

In a nation whose 2016 population is 324,118,787, we need more than two choices. Nothing has shown that more than the Presidential contest of 2016, where a large majority of Americans polled dislike and distrust the candidates of both the largest political parties. Some big keys to getting more than two choices are access to the ballot and access to the debates. Please tweet your support to Dr. Flowers and do anything else you can think of to let people know we want the debates opened up to everyone who has managed to make it to the ballot--and we want easier ballot access, too!

I think we should start agitating in our respective states to change ballot access laws starting in January 2017. (You should have a lot more clout with your state rep. than with your Congressional rep., unless all you're after is a flag that has flown over the Capitol building.)

If you have specific suggestions on how to make our voices heard on this, beyond tweeting Dr. Flowers, I eagerly welcome them.

Thank you.