Loretta Nall is the Libertarian candidate for governor of Alabama. She is running a write-in campaign because Alabama’s restrictive access laws kept her off the ballot (she did her best to raise the 41,000 signatures required), but her candidacy is real, and she is willing to address issues that the two major party candidates won’t touch.
The gubernatorial debate is set for October 30, and I’d like to see Loretta have the opportunity to participate. Blues reader Don has contacted the organizers of the debate, and he encourages us to do the same:
As an Alabama voter, and one who has been actively involved in an effort to find a way to improve our state government for over two years, I wish to register my displeasure at the exclusion of a candidate for the office of Governor of Alabama from the debates scheduled to take place on October 30 which are sponsored by your organizations.
True, Loretta Nall is not on the ballot due to Alabama’s overly restrictive ballot access law (which should be included as one of the topics for debate) but she is actively campaigning as the nominee of the Alabama Libertarian Party, albeit as a write-in candidate.
If a half dozen minor party or non-party individuals were candidates it might be unwieldy to include all of them in the debate, but she is the only announced and campaigning candidate other than those of the two major parties, and I believe it is an affront to her and to all Alabamians to not include her so as to allow the public to hear her views on the issues facing us.
The debates sponsors are Leadership Alabama, the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, the Alabama Press Association and Alabama Public Television. We can have a debate where Lucy spends her time calling Bob a tax lover and Bob spends his time calling Lucy a liberal, or we could open it to all three candidates and actually hear something about issues and policies. I know which I’d prefer.
If you agree, click each of the links above — they go directly to the “contact us” page — and send the sponsors an email. We’ve seen what can happen when the people put pressure on our public officials to do the right thing. Let’s do it again.
ADDENDUM: Here are names with email links for each organization. Thanks, Don!
Barbara W. Larson, Executive Director, Leadership Alabama
James W. Williams Jr., Executive Director, PARCA
Allan Pizzato, Executive Director, Alabama Public Television
Felicia Mason, Executive Director, Alabama Press Association
I will be emailing them later tonight, Kathy.
[...] Monday, August 28, 2006 Let Loretta participate Dan on 2006-08-28 @ 8:28 pm Kathy at Birmingham Blues is asking the organizers of the October 30 gubernatorial debate to allow Loretta Nall, the Libertarian/write-in candidate for governor, to participate in those debates. She is running a write-in campaign because Alabama’s restrictive access laws kept her off the ballot (she did her best to raise the 41,000 signatures required), but her candidacy is real, and she is willing to address issues that the two major party candidates won’t touch. [...]
This was also posted on Between the Links:
To me, it seems only fair that someone who has worked and gained the nomination of a recognized political party have the right to participate in debates to put their views before the voters and let them decide to accept or reject those views at the polls in November. Go, girl! And go, everyone who believes as I do, and let your voices in protest at her exclusion be heard loud and clear. This is still your country, if you will just try to hang on to it.
I’m disappointed at the lack of responses to this post, Kathy, but not surprised after my experience of the last two+ years of working to help Alabama become the 25th Initiative and Referendum state, and I think I know why that’s the situation. I call it “apatheticism”.
apatheticism, n, the art of practicing having neither interest in nor desire for activity; the art of indifference.
If apatheticism wasn’t already a word, I just coined it as it applies to those who can moan, groan, complain, criticize, wring their hands, and get their panties in a wad over the government of Alabama (in blogs, forums and letters to editors as well as just normal conversation}, but seemingly find it impossible to actually do anything constructive to bring about change.
In first grade, or before, we were told that “A” stands for Apple. There are four “A”s in Alabama, which surely stand for Alabamians are abjectly apathetic.
Because we are, we deserve the government we have, and have no right to grumble about it.