Any Presidential Candidate Should Be Allowed to Debate

In an election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, 62% of Americans wanted a third option. Sadly, it seems as though there will not be a third podium. While he was still in the race, I supported Rand Paul; however, after the Iowa Caucus I found myself going in between Austin Petersen and Gary Johnson. I do believe the Libertarian Party has made the right choice in nominating Gary Johnson, as he has the most experience within the Libertarian Party and has the mainstream exposure. Had Petersen been the nominee, I do not think the LP would have gained a great deal of traction and would have met a fate similar to that of Jill Stein's campaign. It is truly a shame that Americans are not being given a third option, but they should really be given five. Yes. Five. Gary Johnson, Jill Stein (Green Party), and Darrell Castle (Constitution Party) should all be included on the debate stage.

Sure, Stein and Castle are polling in the single digits, but surely they should have the same platform, shouldn't they? In the interest of hearing all voices and preserving even a little bit of the democracy that America supposedly espouses. Any election should be won by ideological merit, not party backing or money or "demagoguery" (from Republicans AND Democrats). If anything could end the two-party system, this would at least be a step in the right direction.

There are a couple arguments against this:

1) Debates would take too long

A chief argument against this point is that the GOP debates were saturated with candidates that had no business being there, such as Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, and frankly Donald Trump (despite the fact he is the nominee). There were thirteen candidates and debates may not have gone smoothly in terms in procedure, but in terms of time they were just fine.

2) Third-party candidates have no chance

As long as their voices are suppressed by the commission for debates, third party candidates will have no chance. Of course, a fundamental change to the rules would be in order. After the debates in 1992 when Ross Perot was on the debate stage, a threshold was set that is nigh impossible to reach. In the case of 2016, 62% of Americans as well as the majority of active duty military personnel (among whom Johnson is the leader in polling) are being told their opinions (and by extension their vote) doesn't matter. In the interest of representing the majority of Americans, more than two candidates should be included.