Third - Party Gubernatorial Candidates Sue over Exclusion From Debates

At least two people stopped to shake hands with the tall, gray-haired man in khakis as he waited Tuesday afternoon outside the federal courthouse in Jackson.

"I know you, you're Sherman Lee Dillon," said one woman as she exited the courthouse. "You're running for governor, aren't you?"

It's a vote the well-known Jackson musician needs. The Green Party candidate, father of seven and grandfather of five, is having a tough time getting the word out that there are candidates for the state's top job other than Democrat Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and his Republican challenger Haley Barbour.

Dillon was waiting Tuesday for Shawn O'Hara, a Reform Party candidate for governor. Dillon, O'Hara and John Thomas Cripps of the Constitution Party filed a lawsuit in federal court, suing Barbour and two university presidents in an attempt to open two October gubernatorial debates to third-party candidates.

The lawsuit targets Charles Lee, president of Mississippi State University and John Hilpert, president of Delta State University, as well as the League of Women Voters, which is sponsoring the debates.

"They are misusing public property and/or nontax privileges to discriminate against the majority of candidates who are running for governor," O'Hara said on the courthouse steps.

"We, the plaintiffs, are taxpayers and we're not going to be forced to politically drink out of separate drinking fountains or politically ride in the back of any bus."

O'Hara knows the stakes are high. An appearance in a televised debate can make the difference for an unknown candidate.

Ross Perot, a Texas millionaire with a penchant for pie charts, was included in the presidential debates in 1992 and garnered about 19 percent of the popular vote. Four years later, in his second bid for the presidency, Perot was not included in presidential debates and did not fare as well at the polls. Wrestler-turned-politician Jesse Ventura also was included in televised debates during his successful bid for Minnesota governor in 1998.

For years, Mississippi was a one-party state with Democrats dominating. Only in the past 10 or 15 years have Republicans gained footing.

Third-party and independent candidates followed soon after, and, in recent years, have even tilted the balance in at least one Mississippi election. In the 1999 gubernatorial race, third-party candidates siphoned enough votes from Musgrove or Republican Mike Parker to force a tie-breaking vote in the state House of Representatives.

With Barbour and Musgrove in a dead heat, even a minor following for a third-party candidate could force the race to be decided by the Democrat-controlled House.

But without a place in the debates, third-party candidates say voters are left with the impression that their vote can go only two ways: to Democrats or Republicans.

"It's OK for us to qualify as third-party candidates but they don't give us equal time or attention," Cripps said. "It institutionalizes the two-party system."

O'Hara, Dillon and Cripps said they want to be included in debates because they want to talk about issues that Musgrove and Barbour haven't touched. Dillon wants to talk about environmental issues and the state's high domestic violence rate. O'Hara would like to discuss racial profiling and alternative fuel sources. Cripps would like to talk about the state's ballooning budget.

But political observers and even those in the major parties say including minor candidates in debates often confuses voters and allows less time for major-party candidates to discuss important issues.

Quinton Dickerson, spokesman for Barbour's campaign, said he could not comment on the merits of the lawsuit, but said Republican and Democratic camps worked out what they believe is a fair debate format.

Jim Herring, chair of the state Republican Party, said he has heard of no "great, burning issues" that third-party candidates would bring to a debate. The United States has benefited from a two-party system and is able to reach consensus on issues more quickly than multiple party nations such as France, Herring said.

Rickey Cole, chair of the state Democratic Party, said the people who host debates decide who is invited. Being a Southerner, Cole said he believes "you should only go where you're invited."

"Credibility is rather like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder," he said. "These institutions have the right to decide who they want to include or exclude."

This is O'Hara's fourth bid for the keys to the governor's mansion. The 46-year old home-mortgage lender also has run for the U.S. Senate and other federal offices.

This is both Dillon's and Cripps' first run for governor. Cripps, 46, runs www.freemississippi.org, a Southern heritage Web site, and is a former consultant for construction companies. Dillon, 51, teaches music part time at Millsaps College and watches his five grandchildren during the day.

It's difficult for these candidates to get their message out with little or no money for advertising, they said. Combined their campaigns have raised a little more than $10,000, according to public records.

Dillon said when he calls newspaper reporters he often has to explain who he is and what office he is running for several times.

"If they don't know who I am, then how is the public going to know who I am?" he said.

Representatives from Delta State and Mississippi State universities said they could not comment on the lawsuit or a possible resolution.

Marty Wiseman, director of the Stennis Institute of Government and longtime Mississippi political observer, said love them or hate them, third parties have a valuable role in the democratic process.

"It's better for people to be involved in the political process and have a place to voice their vote than to become disenfranchised with the political process," he said.

Who are they?
In addition to the Republican and Democratic candidates for governor, three other candidates are on the ballot for the Nov. 4 general election:

Age: 51.

Hometown: Jackson.

Party: Green.

Issues: Environmental protection, social justice, grass-roots democracy.

"Women in Mississippi are more likely to be murdered by a man that in any other state. The majority of those women are killed by people they know. You don't hear Barbour or Musgrove talking about these issues."

Age: 46.

Hometown: Wiggins.

Party: Constitution.

Issues: Budget.

"I believe our biggest problem is going to be a tremendous budget deficit. With my background in finance and accounting, I believe I am custom-made to trim the fat. It's very difficult to say you want to do this and that for education without addressing where the money is going to come from."

Age: 46.

Hometown: Hattiesburg.

Party: Reform.

Issues: Alternative fuel, free adoptions, caps on lawsuits, racial profiling.

"I've taken the best from all the political parties. I'm meeting with small crowds of people across the state who say they are disenfranchised with Haley and Ronnie because they aren't talking about issues that are important to common people."

E-MAIL: mccaleb4thdist@aol.com or mccaleb5thdist@aol.com

WEB SITE: www.mississippiwebsite.com

http://www.politics1.com/ms.htm

http://www.govoff.state.ms.us/

It seem as though the two-party system has had a change of heart.

Third-party candidates want voice

3 file suit to be included in gubernatorial debates

Third-Party Candidates Challenge Musgrove, Barbour To Debate