|
|
|
| |
 |
|
| By Michael Badnarik |
 |
| My name is Michael Badnarik. Odds are, you've never heard my name before. None the less, I was the Libertarian Presidential nominee in the 2004 election. I was a legitimate candidate from a legitimate party, however I wasn't allowed to participate in the Presidential debates. In fact, Green Party Presidential candidate David Cobb and I were arrested in St. Louis, Missouri on October 9th, as we attempted to witness the Presidential debate being hosted there. This fact was never reported by the national media. The only significant coverage of the event was on my campaign blog site, which reported unprecedented activity during that time. |
| 
|
The presumed purpose of the national media is to report the news, in an exercise of "freedom of the press". What could be more news worthy than two presidential candidates being arrested at a presidential debate? On the other hand, reporting such an event would focus on the prejudice the media has against most third party candidates. It is highly unlikely that the media would ever publicize its own bias in this manner. |
 |
| Another bias shown by the national media was in favor of Ralph Nader over other third party candidates. Granted, Mr. Nader has been in the media for nearly forty years and has greater name recognition. However, Mr. Nader was only on the ballot on approximately thirty states, while I was on the ballot on forty-eight. More significantly it is estimated that 50.3% of the population had an opportunity to vote for Mr. Nader, whereas 98.3% of the population could have voted for me. Mr. Nader may have more name recognition, but not enough to warrant getting 300 times more media coverage than I did. |
 |
I would like to make a distinction between the major syndicated media and local media outlets. While the major networks were reluctant to give me even minimal coverage, the local newspaper, radio, and television organizations were always eager to interview me. The chances of interviewing Bush or Kerry face to face are as likely as winning a multi-state lottery. When given an opportunity to do a live interview with a real presidential candidate, they typically jump at the chance. More importantly, a majority of the articles and taped interviews were edited in a manner that fairly and accurately represented the Libertarian position on the issues. I had to work extremely hard, but I participated in several hundred interviews in the months preceeding the election. There are now literally millions of people who know about the Libertarian Party because of my campaign.
|
 |
| Since the election, hundreds of reports of voter fraud and political bias prompted David Cobb and I to join forces once again to contest the election results in Ohio, and other states. Our purpose was to validate allegations of impropriety in the counting process. I feel that this goal has since been achieved, albeit not to everyone's satisfaction. This action initially generated more media coverage than I had been able to generate during the campaign. |
 |
| I'm sure it is difficult for anyone to get media coverage, however it has been my experience that the job is even more difficult for third party candidates. That's why I am planning to build name recognition in another way. I have been teaching an eight-hour class on the Constitution since January of 2000, eventually writing a book that is used as the text for that class. The book, entitled GOOD TO BE KING, has already been on the Amazon.com best sellers list, and is already in its second printing. A DVD video version of the class is also being planned for early 2005. Anyone interested in attending or requesting a class should visit my website, www.ConstitutionPreservation.org |
 |
As more and more people read my book and attend my class, my reputation and name recognition will expand. If I can work hard enough and reach enough people, it will become harder and harder for the national media to ignore me. With greater media coverage, the chances of participating in the next presidential debate increase dramatically. If I am allowed to debate the Democratic and Republican candidates on national television - I will be able to change American politics forever, and the Constitution will once again reign as "the supreme law of the land".
|
 |
| I appreciate the editors at Earthblog.net for giving me an opportunity to present my story. I wish them great success in their effort. I also encourage Americans everywhere to start getting their news information from sources other than the biased national media. That is the only way we will be able to ensure "freedom of the press", and prevent it from being manipulated by those in power. |
 |
| Return To Earthblog Headlines |
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
Privacy
Statement
Earthblog.net collects no personally identifiable information
about visitors to our website.
We use Burst! Media to supply third party advertising
on our website. Burst! Media’s Privacy
Policy can be viewed at; http://www.burstmedia.com/release/privacy_content.htm
For further information about the Earthblog.net Privacy
Policy, please address all
questions to; info@earthblog.net |
| |
|
|
|
| ©2006
earthblog.net. All rights reserved |
 |
earthblog, earthblog.net, alternative media, independent
media, alternative press, unfiltered news, information, info, current events,
news, news blog, journalism, geopolitics, politics, political, freedom of speech,
censorship, human rights, freedom, democracy, liberty, disinformation, misinformation,
activist, activism, blog, blog culture, media suppression, constitution, draft,
treason, terrorism,
imperialism, surveillance, war, war on terrorism, war in iraq, war on drugs,
anti-war, anti war, conspiracy, conscientious objection, conscientious objector,
peace, reform, CIA, NSA, FBI, MI5, dominant media, left-wing media, right-wing
media, personal ethics, Alternative Medien, Nachrichten, Politik, Activismus,
Redefreiheit, Freie Medien, Blog Kultur