I think that ANY candidate that can get themselves included on the ballot in all 50 states should be automatically included in the presidential debates. It is not an easy proposition to be included on the ballot in all 50 states and the difficulty in accomplishing that should help keep the debates to a manageable number (w/in 5). I'm getting tired of the rhetoric between Republicans and Democrats and in exploring the positions of other parties, I'm realizing that they each have something to offer even if I don't agree with them on all their positions. It's amazing that for all the lip service we pay to diversity that our presidential debates are relegated to only two parties. If Republicans and Democrats believe so much in their positions, they shouldn't fear the inclusion of positions from other parties. I sometimes feel like this country is stuck in the Simpsons' episode where the two slave-driving aliens ursurp the Rep/Dem candidates' bodies, are discovered, and then laugh at us because we "have no choice" but to vote for one of them (despite Perot running as a third candidate). We need third candidates to touch the third rails (since the first two will not).
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5 parties may be too many options for many people to keep track of, but I agree that a 3rd candidate would make the debates more interesting.
How about requiring there to be a third party in the debates. I'm not even sure how the third parties operate, but whichever party has the most support, is automatically in the debates. Why force them to have representation in all 50 states. Just take the 3rd strongest party.
The third parties (Green, Libertarian, Reform, Constitution, etc.) are more than welcome to work with local communities, states, or their national organization to host their own debates. They can invite candidates from the two major parties if they'd like to.
What you miss is that the two-party system allows for all of the ideas from the smaller parties to be co-opted into the larger ones. This sort of process ensures that no extreme faction or single-issue group can easily seize power and wield it in a fashion that's destructive or not to the benefit of a majority of the people. But there are entire books written on this... the two major parties contain dozens of informal parties within them. You need only look at disagreements Congressional Republicans or Congressional Democrats have to see that neither is of one mind on everything.