Review of the 2016 Free & Equal Debate

The following was previously published on Wikinews as part of the monthly series chronicling the 2016 presidential election

On October 25, the Free & Equal Elections Foundation held a debate on the campus of the University of Colorado in Boulder, moderated by actor Ed Asner and Free & Equal founder Christina Tobin. This was the organization’s third election cycle hosting a presidential debate. Constitution Party presidential nominee Darrell Castle, Party for Socialism and Liberation presidential nominee Gloria La Riva, and Reform Party presidential nominee Rocky De La Fuente all took part in the near two-hour event. Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, and Evan McMullin were each invited but did not attend.

“Shame on Jill Stein and Gary Johnson in particular for not coming”, said Castle, reflecting the overall feeling of the three debaters. La Riva described the absences as “a lack of respect for those of us who have fought so hard in this electoral year to have a voice for the people.”

Set-up of the debate state.

Although major party candidates have never participated in the event and are barred from doing so by the Commission on Presidential Debates, the absence of Johnson was controversial. Reportedly, Stein and McMullin did not attend because of Johnson’s absence. Johnson, who participated in the same debate in 2012 along with Stein, was said by Tobin to be concerned about appearing credible to the media.

“They are so high and mighty. They want to be Democrats and Republicans so badly,” proclaimed Castle about Johnson and Stein, “They are afraid to come out and get down on the same level with people like us.”

The Libertarian and Green Party presidential nominees also skipped the first Free & Equal Debate in 2008. Then-Libertarian Party presidential nominee Bob Barr missed the debate because of a previously scheduled event. Then-Green Party presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney was absent because Free & Equal did not consult with her before scheduling the event. That year, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader and Constitution Party presidential nominee Chuck Baldwin were the only participants.

Castle, who served as Baldwin’s 2008 running mate, previously participated in a Free & Equal vice presidential debate that year, a fact he brought up in his opening statement. Notably, throughout the debate, Castle repeatedly expressed astonishment when he agreed with his “socialist friend” La Riva. However, on the first topic, there was disagreement regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline. While Castle, who said he would generally support such a pipeline, argued Dakota Access did not cross the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, La Riva rebutted the proposed route crosses lands the US government took from the Sioux. Moreover, she said the proposed route crosses the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers opening the possibility for contamination. Later in the debate, La Riva and Castle differed substantially on health care. While Castle called for a capitalistic solution, La Riva countered that capitalism was the reason for the health care crisis.

Debaters, from left: Rocky De La Fuente, Gloria La Riva, Darrell Castle.

La Riva, who was her party’s presidential nominee in 2008 and was a stand-in in some states in 2012 due to the constitutional ineligibility of the party’s official nominee Peta Lindsay, did not previously qualify for the Free & Equal debate. In 2012, Free & Equal extended invitations only to those candidates who reached 1% in any “neutral” national poll. In addition to Johnson and Stein, this included then-Constitution Party presidential nominee Virgil Goode and then-Justice Party presidential nominee Rocky Anderson. This year, Free & Equal lowered its inclusion standard to those with ballot access to at least 15% of the electorate. La Riva met this standard. In the debate, she passionately argued in favor of socialism, endorsing an “economic, social, and political revolution,” which entails sharing “all the wealth that the people create” and “changing the economic system of capitalism to a socialist one; to a people’s democracy.” De La Fuente said he agreed with La Riva in terms of health care, arguing for fixes to Obamacare and ultimately the implementation of socialized medicine.

De La Fuente, whom Wikinews interviewed earlier this year, previously ran for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. During the debate, he touted himself as the “first Hispanic-American to be on the ballot in 20 states.” In focusing on minority issues, he discussed the disproportionate incarceration of minorities for marijuana offenses. Asner, who often commented during the course of the debate, wondered whether the discrepancy was the result of economic rather than racial factors. De La Fuente argued it might be contributed to by both.

On other issues, the candidates had spirited discussion. While addressing the treatment of whistleblowers such as Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, and Chelsea Manning, Castle referred to each as a hero and said he would offer a pardon as president. La Riva called for the elimination of the NSA, FBI, and CIA, characterizing these organizations as enemies of the American people. On the issue of military adventurism, all candidates agreed the U.S. should remove its forces from the Middle East. After Asner brought up President Dwight D. Eisenhower‘s farewell address, warning of the military–industrial complex, Castle discussed how President John F. Kennedy heeded the warning and came up with policies of his own, which he felt ultimately led to Kennedy’s undoing. However, Castle was quick to say he does not subscribe to conspiracy theories. Each candidate expressed opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership and NAFTA, though De La Fuente and Castle each acknowledged the necessity of free trade. On the issue of campaign finance reform, Castle proposed giving $50 million to each of the candidates on the basis of ballot access. De La Fuente said he had not considered Castle’s proposal, but “it makes a lot of sense.” He mentioned his Democratic Party run and accused the party of “building walls” to prevent outsiders like himself from gaining traction. He also claimed the party cheated Senator Bernie Sanders out of the nomination. Near the end of the debate, a student from the University of Colorado asked a question about student debt. La Riva called for free education and in absence of that, proposed a student strike to demand debt-free education. Castle said the debt crisis was the result of government interference into education, saying loans would not be made if government did not guaranty them. He proposed use of bankruptcy law to alleviate the debt. De La Fuente proposed a “virtual reality university” using experts from around the world to teach subjects online to Americans for free, arguing Americans, and particularly minorities, lack the time to attend a four-year university.

Moderators Christina Tobin and Ed Asner.

Unlike Asner, Tobin did not comment much as moderator, but she chimed in on the issue of ballot access. Tobin explained how she received an inquiry regarding ballot access for former Senator Jim Webb, who ran as a Democrat and was considering an independent run for president in 2016. She discovered it would take 900,000 signatures to achieve full ballot access, requiring the collection of 1.6 million signatures with lower range costs of US$7 to US$10 million and high estimates of up to US$20 million. In response, each candidate discussed their experiences with ballot access restrictions. La Riva proposed parties be able to qualify for nationwide ballot access.

Some lighthearted moments included Asner forgetting Castle’s first name, De La Fuente questioning whether an interjection from Asner would count against his time, and Castle upon reaching the end of his time, commenting on the “relentless pressure of this woman [presumably the timekeeper] on the front row [to] stop me.”

In closing, De La Fuente called his two fellow debaters “presidential” and said he “would be proud for them to be my president, and not those two, dumb and dumber, [the major party candidates] who are trying to go for the job.” Asner expressed appreciation to each participant, and declared the candidates “gave this election dignity.”