Opinion: Only guys in dark suits with red ties get to debate

Poor Ralph Nader. He had a ticket, but apparently he wasn't wearing a red tie.

That's the only reason I can figure out why the powers that be wouldn't let Ralph debate on Tuesday evening.

Oh, and the fact that he can't win the presidency. Or that he may possibly be more dull than either Al Bore or George Gush.

Frankly, I think Nader would spice up the debates considerably, as would Pat Buchanan. Let's get the far left and far right out there to give us a real test of where the distinction lies between Gore and Bush.

As you read, somebody had given Nader a ticket to the debate - but the gatekeepers still wouldn't let him in. Probably because he had joked about "crawling on stage" if he did get in the door.

There's two things you don't joke about: having a bomb in your luggage, and crawling on stage at a presidential debate.

Nader supporters made a scene outside, because they think their man has the answers.

A few days prior to the debate, a Nader supporter posted this message on a chat board:

"We need to get people to hear Nader speak; it's the best way to change minds," the supporter wrote. Unfortunately, the supporter's name is Dreammuffin. Oh, well.

But while the Democrats and Republicans are battling over whether to give away our tax dollars or hire more bureaucrats, Nader's Green Party has some ideas you may not have read about. For example:

- The minimum wage should be $12.50 an hour now, and go up as the cost of living goes up.

- Workers should get a "second paycheck" from the government "enabling them to receive 40 hours pay for 30 hours work. Paid by the government out of progressive taxes so that social productivity gains are shared equitably."

- Require the breakup of any firm with more than 10 percent market share unless it makes a compelling case every five years that it serves the public interest.

- Decriminalize possession of drugs. Release nonviolent drug prisoners.

- Right to work short hours: "No discrimination in pay and promotion against workers who choose to work short hours."

- And, under the heading International Solidarity, the Green Party suggests that "First, the U.S. should finance universal access to primary education, adequate food, clean water and sanitation, preventative health care and family planning services for every human being on Earth."

Now, that would have made an interesting debate.

As for Pat Buchanan, who apparently couldn't even get anyone to give him a free ticket so he could be thrown out, his position papers include some specific ideas, as well:

- Abolish all inheritance and capital gains taxes on family farms.

- Promote local responsibility and accountability by abolishing the Bureau of Land Management and giving the 500 million acres of BLM lands back to the states.

- Abolish the Department of Education and return its functions and funding to state and local control.

- Repeal the Clinton/Gore nickel-per-gallon gas tax of 1993 and consider temporary suspension of the entire 18-cent federal gas tax.

With both Buchanan and Nader in the room with Gore and Bush, it would have been a free-for-all. It also would have gone on for hours, and I'm not sure how many minds would have been changed. Nader is getting only about 5 percent in the polls, and Buchanan 1 percent.

But I think it would help change the attitudes of too many non-voters that there aren't any real choices out there. Bush and Gore seemed intent on showing some differences, and Jim Lehrer asked them directly. But both still came off, in my opinion, as trying not to offend anybody - right down to the red ties.

It may have been my imagination, but it looked like somebody made up Al Gore to resemble Ronald Reagan. He certainly didn't sound like Ron, though.

For me, the best question of the night from Lehrer had to do with what action Gore or Bush had taken that demonstrated their ability to be a decision-maker and leader. It took both of them off their scripts.

Bush talked about responding to wildfires in his state, and Gore said he had gone to the scene with a federal official. As it turns out, he hadn't.

Gore also talked about a Florida student who has to stand at the back of her science class because she doesn't have a desk. As it turns out, she had to stand at the back of the room for a day because some lab equipment hadn't been unpacked and there wasn't room for more desks. Now, there is.

The debates can give us a picture of the candidates, but not the whole picture. And with Nader and Buchanan on the outside, the picture looked a lot like two guys in dark suits with red ties who had the only two tickets.

(Barry Smith is managing editor of the Nevada Appeal.)