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Dennis Kucinich Sues NBC Due To Nevada Debate Exclusion

January 14th, 2008
By JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

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Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich has busy lawyers these days: it was just announced that he’s suing NBC over being excluded from tomorrow’s debate of the top-three Democratic Presidential nomination race candidates. Last week he demanded a recount of the New Hampshire primary vote.

UPDATE: The judge has backed Kucinich. Read ED MORRISSEY.

(Here’s the rest of our earlier post)

With two legal actions in a row, he’s turning into the ambulance chaser candidate:

Rep. Dennis Kucinich has just sued NBC-TV in Las Vegas over his exclusion from the MSNBC debate among top Democratic candidates in Nevada tomorrow.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Kucinich filed his lawsuit moments ago seeking a temporary restraining order allowing him to participate in the nationally-televised debate among Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama. A copy of the lawsuit is available here.

As reported here over the weekend, Kucinich was originally informed that he was invited. But that invitation was later rescinded, prompting an outraged press release about giant corporate powers controlling voters’ access to all candidates.

Kucinich’s lawsuit claims, “Kucinich is a credible and serious candidate in Nevada, where he is actively and vigorously campaigning and has statewide headquarters in Las Vegas.” The suit could threaten tomorrow evening’s debate.

It comes just days before the hotly-contested Nevada caucuses that has drawn all the Democratic candidates, seeking votes and endorsements. A District Court hearing was scheduled for this afternoon.

The L.A. Times blog had reported this:

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the perennial Democratic presidential candidate who just as perennially loses, is fast becoming a perennial debate absentee too.

The former Cleveland mayor, who has been spending the better part of a year now campaigning everywhere but his home district, was left out of the Des Moines Register’s debate last month because he did not have a separate campaign office in the state and didn’t meet polling minimums. Then last weekend he was left out of the ABC-TV Democratic debate in New Hampshire, much as Reps. Duncan Hunter and Ron Paul were excluded from the Fox News Channel Republican debate the next evening. So Paul went before his own nationwide audience on NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and wowed that host.

Kucinich thought he’d made the cut for this coming week’s MSNBC Democratic debate in Las Vegas before the Jan. 19 caucus. He got the invitation and everything. But a day or so later he was un-invited to attend, a kind of Don’t Bother to RSVP.

….The original participation criteria required a candidate to be in at least fourth place in a national poll. But NBC changed it to include only the top three candidates, and you’ll never guess who they are: Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama. Nevermind Democratic Party solidarity, those three agreed to show up, and Kucinich is out in the cold or however less warm it gets in Las Vegas this time of year.

It would have been unlikely that the “big three” would have put up a fuss about Kucinich. His absence means they get more screen time. This underscores the dilemma broadcast outlets have in doing debates. They can narrow it down to those who have the most “realistic” chance of winning, but there is always the chance of a big come from behind, surprise political win. It has happened. Except in Kucinich’s case, there is little sign that it will.

Besides, with all of Kucinich’s legal activity (this lawsuit, the recount) he may confuse Democratic voters. He’s so busy challenging election-related events that you’d think he was a Republican..



This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 5:31 pm and is filed under Debates, Dennis Kucinich, Newsweek Blogitics, Primaries, John Edwards, Barack Obama, 2008 Elections, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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