FOX EXCLUDES GOP CANDIDATES FROM DEBATE

Washington, DC (TLS). The Liberty Sphere has learned that Fox News Channel is planning on excluding the majority of the GOP candidates from a debate scheduled for May 15, 2007, in Columbia, South Carolina. The South Carolina Republican Party is co-sponsoring the debate along with Fox News.

According to sources planning the event, Fox and the S.C. GOP is considering excluding 7 of the 10 GOP candidates from the televised debate.

Those sources also state that the agreement with the candidates was that only those who polled more than 1% of likely voters would be invited to the debate. This excludes candidates such as Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo, Ron Paul, Sam Brownback, and Mike Huckabee, among others.

This would mean that the May 15 South Carolina debate will feature only Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Mitt Romney.

However, on Thursday night of this week, May 3, MSNBC is sponsoring a GOP debate that features ALL of the announced candidates.

Needless to say, many conservatives are in an uproar about the South Carolina debate. It has even been suggested that the S.C. Republican Party is deliberately excluding the most conservative voices in the field of candidates, in order to showcase Giuliani, McCain, and Romney.

S.C.'s two Republican Senators may have a stake in this decision. Senator Lindsey Graham supports McCain, while Senator Jim DeMint supports Romney.

The vast majority of Republican voters in South Carolina, however, are solidly conservative, and many clearly do not feel that the top three candidates in the field best represent their views. This is why such a decision to exclude conservatives from the debate appears very odd to most GOP insiders in the state, given the fact that it is still very early in the campaign.

It is time for the South Carolina Republican Party and Fox News to hear from you, the voters. Demand that ALL GOP candidates participate in the May 15 debate. This is only fair.

Is a boycott in order unless the rest of the candidates are allowed to participate?