What is WRKO afraid of? Let Jill Debate!

WRKO-AM 680, "Boston's Talk Station", will be broadcasting a live, in-studio debate between Governor Deval Patrick and GOP gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker. Independent candidate Tim Cahill was invited to participate, but has not currently agreed to participate. This live debate will take place on Wednesday, June 16th, from 7-8am, on the "Tom and Todd" show, followed by an hour of analysis of the debate by hosts Tom Finneran and Todd Feinburg.

This WRKO debate is sponsored by the SBLI insurance company, Weichert Realtors, and a lobbying coalition called the Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition.

There are 4 viable candidates for governor of Massachusetts in 2010, and WRKO and "Tom and Todd" have decided to invite 3 of them for a debate. As the first broadcast debate of this election, it is highly objectionable and suspicious that this corporate-funded debate is excluding the one candidate who refuses money from corporate lobbyists and from corporate executives who hire lobbyists.

Democracy requires that voters have access to all the information and ideas that would make for an informed decision. Excluding candidates on the basis of their ideas, or the size of their campaign warchest, is an attack on democracy itself. Since Stein's poll numbers jumped from 3% to 8% after the invitation went out to Patrick, Baker, and Cahill, and she now trails Cahill by just 6 percentage points, shutting out her voice is inexcusable.