Green Party Candidates McCourt and Duncan Tour State, Debate
Exclusion Fires Resolve to Reach Voters
Green Party of New York State
www.gpnys.org
October 03, 2006
Contacts:
Alex Montanez 310-650-7481 montanez.alex@gmail.com - contact for interviews
with Malachy McCourt
Ann Link 347-227-1195 eastst@hotmail.com - contact for interviews with
Alison Duncan and show info and pictures
NEW YORK, NY -- Malachy McCourt, Green Party candidate for Governor, has
begun a tour of the state with his show, "You Don't Have to Be Irish to Vote
for Me," an hour and a half of "rambunctious prose, songs without singing
but sung and obiter dictums on everything and guaranteed to offend politicians and blowhards alike." The show opened to a packed
house at Symphony Space in NYC on Sept. 20 and Glen Falls on Sept. 23. Upcoming show
venues include New Paltz, Ithaca, Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo. Alison
Duncan, Green Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor, will sing at the
shows. Both candidates will make TV, radio and public appearances in conjunction with the tour.
"Alison and I are quite capable of either making people think or putting
them to sleep," said McCourt. "We will keep them awake and informed by
entertaining them. Alison's a singer and I'm not - I prove it every time I
get up to sing. Walt Whitman said "I hear America singing" and so do we. We
are asking people to join us as we add music and poetry to the air with a
new administration in November."
"Langston Hughes's poem "Poet to Bigot" about a disparity of resources has
been on my mind throughout the campaign," said Duncan. "We do not have
Spitzer's 16 million dollars, his giant political machine or his surfeit of
press attention. We do have our talents. We will meet his money with our
music."
Green Party "Peace Slate" candidates, who qualified for the ballot by
collecting 30,000 signatures, have not been invited to the debates sponsored
by the League of Woman Voters and the senatorial debate sponsored by NY1.
Debate organizers have set barriers that exclude third parties, such as
polling and contribution requirements. The League of Women Voters lists 10%
of support in a public opinion poll as one of several ways to qualify, even
though Green Party candidates are frequently excluded from polling surveys.
NY1 required candidates to have raised at least $500,000 to qualify for
their senatorial primary debate. Green Party candidates do not accept corporate or PAC contributions so are not likely to meet
high contribution thresholds.
"When debate organizers exclude third-party candidates, they actively
influence the course of the election in favor of Democratic and Republican
candidates," said Duncan. "Polls indicate that one third of voters do not
consider themselves Democrats or Republicans, and the majority want to see
all ballot-qualified candidates invited to debates. Malachy and I and the
other Green Party candidates bring fresh new ideas and innovative solutions
to the political landscape and we look forward to sharing them with voters
as we tour the state."
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PEACE SLATE CANDIDATE WEBSITES
Malachy McCourt for Governor
http://votemalachymccourt.org/
Alison Duncan for Lieutenant Governor
http://www.alisonduncan.org/
Rachel Treichler for Attorney General
http://www.voterachel.org/
Julia Willebrand for Comptroller
http://www.juliaforcomptroller.org/
Howie Hawkins for US Senate from New York
http://www.hawkinsforsenate.org
