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GOP hopeful files complaint about exclusion from debates ... Bachmann says bank bailout a form of socialism ... Demanding debates ... Obama student fervor of '08 may not be there in '12 ... Johnson files complaints over near-shutout in debate appearances
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Republican presidential hopeful Gary Johnson has filed complaints with two federal agencies regarding his exclusion from the CBS candidates' debate in South Carolina.
The complaint to the Federal Election Commission argues by arbitrarily choosing who benefited from air time during the broadcast debate and excluding others, CBS was "directly and significantly supporting those candidates it favors, and advocating the nomination of one of their favorites and opposing the nomination of complainant, whom CBS evidently disfavors," Johnson said in a release posted on his Web site.
The former New Mexico governor has been excluded from most of the presidential debates -- he's participated in two of the 11 conducted so far -- because he failed to meet requirements set by debate hosts.
His complaint with the Federal Communications Commission asserted that the public "owns the airways over which CBS broadcasts, and the public deserves to be free from bias -- favoring some candidates over others -- as well as illegal support of certain presidential candidates on national network television."
Johnson senior campaign adviser Ron Nielson said debates are critical, citing how candidates move up or down in the polls after every debate, among other things.
"That is just wrong," Nielson said. "We owe it to our supporters and to the process to take this basic unfairness and clear bias to those agencies whose job it is to insure that the power of the airwaves is not being misused in an arbitrary manner in the Republican nominating process."
Bachmann blasts Bush on bailout
Republican U.S. presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has accused fellow Republican and former President George W. Bush of a type of socialism for his decision to bail out financial institutions at the edge of collapse.
In her soon-to-be-published memoir, the U.S. congresswoman from Minnesota criticized Bush and his Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, who pushed for the $700 billion program for "embracing a kind of 'bailout socialism," ABC News reported.
"The Bush administration, which had always professed faith in the free-market system, was now reversing its course," Bachmann said in "Core of Conviction," a memoir scheduled to be released Monday.
Bachmann, however, piled most of her criticism on President Obama, accusing him of strengthening "moochers" and "hustlers" and directing federal money to "political allies" and liberal activist groups.
Going to the candidates debate …
The supersized debate schedule -- there have been 13 already -- for Republicans jockeying to challenge President Obama next year has candidates in constant prep mode.
The frequency of the debates is eating into the time for GOP candidates to meet and greet in Iowa and other early voting states, The Hill reported recently.
So it begs the question: How many debates are too many?
"Debates are good, but we're reaching overload," said Ed Rollins, who was the campaign manager for Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota before stepping down in September.
The current schedule, Rollins said, calls for "20-plus debates in this primary process. That is way too many."
"You can't just have an air war," said David Yepsen, a veteran campaign reporter with The Des Moines Register. "You have to have an air war and a ground war."
It's not just a debate, professionals say. It's the prep time, the logistics, the debate and the post-debate spin. And then you're doing it all over next week. It is plausible, pundits say, that some of that time would be better spent on the stump in Iowa and New Hampshire instead of on the stage.
Rollins said debates have become so important this year partly because of the late entries of some candidates.
"They have had to introduce themselves," Rollins said, "and they do not yet have the structure to campaign in the more normal way."
And another thing, debates are popular viewing. A September Republican debate on Fox News attracted 6.1 million viewers, nearly double the figure the same network drew for a Republican debate in the corresponding month of the 2007-08 election cycle.
Obama student workers in 2008 not so enthusiastic this time around
Voting-age students -- a key demographic in Barack Obama's march to the White House in 2008 -- may not have the time or the zeal to answer phones, door knock, canvass or whatever else is needed this time around.
Obama's campaign in 2008 was University of Nevada-Las Vegas student Emma Guerrero's life. She told The New York Times she took time from her studies to be part of what she still remembers as the most exciting period of her life.
But as she looks to graduation and beyond, Guerreo said she is fearful about what lies ahead and can't envision having the time or spirit to work for Obama.
"I don't think I could do it anymore," she said. "That [2008] campaign was an amazing experience. But I don't think I'm in the same mindset anymore. He hasn't really addressed the young people and we helped him to get elected."
Across Nevada and elsewhere where young voters fueled the Obama organization, the engine of the 2008 campaign has fired against the reality of a lousy job market for college graduates, the Times said. Most of his college supporters are still inclined to vote for him, even if they won't be part of his army.
Obama's advisers acknowledge the shift but say they're confident an influx of new students of voting age will provide balance. Obama's campaign manager, Jim Messina, said 8 million voters ages 18 to 21 have registered since the last election, most of whom were Democrats.
"Their brothers and sisters started it, and they are going to finish it," Messina told the Times. "They are storming into our office. Our volunteer numbers are up from where we thought they would be."
