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-What Happened in 1988?
-What Happened in 1992? -What Happened in 1996? -What Happened in 2000? -2008: 15 Percent Barrier 
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What Happened in 1988?The CPD established a candidate selection process in 1988 -- not because it actually contemplated including non-major party candidates in the presidential debates, but rather to comply with federal debate regulations. This candidate selection process, which was used again in 1992 and 1996, automatically invited the Republican and Democratic candidates to participate in the presidential debates. To determine which, if any, third-party candidates would be invited, the CPD created a three-person Advisory Committee comprised of: Professor Richard Neustadt of Harvard University; Diana Carlin of The University of Kansas; and Vernon E. Jordan Jr., a civil rights leader and managing director of investment firm Lazard Freres.The Advisory Committee was charged with deciding which third-party candidates had a "realistic chance of being elected." How did the CPD make sure that only the preferred candidates were seen to have a "realistic chance of being elected?" By picking individuals to serve on the Advisory Committee who were ideologically committed to the two-party system. Professor Neustadt had been a consultant to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson and served on the platform committee of three Democratic national conventions. Professor Carlin, a registered Democrat, had contributed $500 to Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. Vernon Jordan had served as President Clinton's trusted advisor, helping select Al Gore as Clinton's running mate, chairing Clinton's 1992 presidential transition team, and possibly even aiding the cover up of Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. To comply with FEC regulations, Professor Neustadt developed criteria for the Advisory Committee to interpret. Neustadt, however, did not establish an objective threshold that would have produced irrefutable conclusions. Instead, he crafted entirely subjective criteria that could rhetorically justify the exclusion of any third-party candidate. He listed vague eligibility factors susceptible to infinite interpretation, such as "the professional opinions of Washington bureau chiefs of major newspapers, magazines and broadcast networks" and "column inches on newspaper front pages and exposure on network telecasts in comparison with the major party candidates." Even if, somehow, the Advisory Committee interpreted the subjective criteria in a manner displeasing to the CPD, Fahrenkopf and Kirk reserved a final emergency weapon: the conclusions of the Advisory Committee were not binding. The Advisory Committee was merely an advisory committee. The CPD could simply reject the committee's recommendations, and it did in 1992. In short, the candidate selection process employed in 1988, 1992 and 1996 consisted of Democrats and Republicans selected by the party chairmen using materials prepared by a bipartisan commission to interpret subjective criteria, and if they came up with the "wrong" conclusion, Fahrenkopf and Kirk would just reject it. In 1988, only four candidates were on enough state ballots to win an electoral college majority: Vice President George Bush of the Republican Party, Governor Michael Dukakis of the Democratic Party, Dr. Lenora Fulani of the New Alliance Party, and Ron Paul (who is now a Congressman) of the Libertarian Party. On October 1, the Bush and Dukakis campaigns submitted a 16-page Memorandum of Understanding to the CPD, which only invited Bush and Dukakis to the debates, after the Advisory Committee delivered a recommendation to exclude all third-party challengers. Related Links
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