Third party hopefuls continue calls for inclusion in debates

By Kate Snow/CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Although they've been excluded from the invite list, third party candidates Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan will be in Boston on Tuesday for the first of the official presidential debates, hoping that the added hoopla will draw attention to their arguments for inclusion.

Third party candidates Pat Buchanan, left, and Ralph Nader, right, must each average 15 percent support in five national polls to qualify for the official presidential debates. They are both polling in single digits.

"How did we ever end up with a democracy where challengers to the entrenched corrupt political system in our country cannot get to tens of millions of voters without going through a gate whose key is controlled by the two major parties who want to exclude reforms?" Nader, the Green Party candidate, said during a recent stump appearance.

On a crisp fall afternoon at Youngstown State University in Ohio, Nader preached mostly to the choir as volunteers gathered petition signatures urging the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates to open the televised forums to third party candidates.

Some of the students signing the petition vowed not to tune into Tuesday's showdown between Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore and Republican rival George W. Bush.

"Not if he (Nader) is not included, because I've already heard everything Gore and Bush have to say," said Jennifer Breckner, a student who supports Nader.

But the commission says rules are rules: a candidate must average 15 percent support in five national polls to qualify for the debates.

Although he remains below five percent support in most national polls, Nader has drawn huge crowds in states such as Oregon and Washington, where Democrats fear he may lure crucial votes away from Gore.

As the Green Party candidate carries his message on the TV talk show circuit, die-hard supporters have held protests demanding his inclusion in the debates. Earlier this week, eight Nader supporters were arrested outside the Washington headquarters of the debate commission.

Nader also has some star power behind him, including actress Susan Sarandon and former talk show host Phil Donahue.

"I want to do anything I can, he has been kind of shut out by the powers that be in terms of having of a voice," said Sarandon, who accompanied Nader during a recent appearance on the Queen Latifah program.

Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan, who's drawing even less support than Nader in the polls, also claims he's been shut out of the debates by the two major political parties.

Campaigning on the streets of New Orleans, most passersby failed to even recognize the former television commentator and Nixon aide. And that's precisely why he would relish a spot in a primetime debate.

Buchanan is fighting a federal court battle for the right to debate, arguing the Reform Party is one of three recognized parties by the Federal Election Commission, and therefore ought to be included.

"I feel like I'm walking up and down the sidelines here and the Super Bowl is going on out there. I would like to get in the game," Buchanan said.

Candidates know the power of the mass audience. Reform Party founder Ross Perot's popularity jumped after he appeared alongside Democratic nominee Bill Clinton and President George Bush during the 1992 debates.

For his part, Ralph Nader is hoping things might open up after the first debate this year.

"I think if Gore does Bush in on the first debate, Bush would be smart to open it up to four debates," Nader said. "Because if he can't handle Al Gore maybe he wants to let me do the job."