South Carolina Green Party: Include Platt in Debate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
To: South Carolina Media
South Carolina Green Party:  Include Platt in Debate
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Charleston, SC; Columbia, SC

CONTACT
Eugene Platt, Nominee for 1st Congressional District
Scott West, Co-Chair, SC Green Party, 347-581-0230

South Carolina Green Party:  Include Platt in Debate
Eugene Platt should be included in the Monday April 29, 2013 debate for the May 7 special congressional election.

Eugene Platt is a public servant of long standing, having been reelected to the James Island Public Service District every four years since 1994.

Eugene Platt ran as the Democratic Party nominee in the 1st Congressional District during the 1992 election.

The public is better served by a diversity of voices and viewpoints representing all parts of the political spectrum.

Many polls do not include candidates who are not members of the two major parties. Public Policy Polling mentioned Eugene Platt in the April 24 poll, after previous polling data suggested a tie in the race between Sanford and Colbert-Busch.  Now that apolitical drama has created an advantage for Colbert-Busch, The Citadel has acted to exclude Eugene Platt from the scheduled Monday debate.

This commitment to horse race politics does not serve the public interest. The local media and local institutions like the Patch and the AARP do a terrible disservice to the people of South Carolina, when they reduce political debate to an empty, content-free show.

Without Eugene Platt, the most that will come from the Citadel debate is a series of “gotcha” moments.

With Platt, the debate will be compelled to widen the scope of debate and seriously discuss such issues as

* Health Care:  Eugene Platt is a long-time supporter of universal health care.  If the goal is to sustainably provide health care for all Americans, only a single-payer national insurance plan will work.  Both the unfettered-market approach favored by the Republican and the mandated insurance favored by the Democrat will leave millions uninsured and fail to control costs.

* War:  Eugene Platt is in favor of a non-interventionist foreign policy.  The United States made a serious mistake in invading Iraq in 2003 in a manipulated search for non-existent Weapons of Mass Destruction. Opposition to the 2003 Iraq war is a litmus test for future action against military adventures.

* Illegal Immigration and the Economy:  South Carolina, America, and nearby countries need local economic control and development.  This meant increased power to labor unions in the workplace to control conditions, profits and benefits, and the decentralization of development.  Strengthening local labor markets abroad through decentralized development will lessen the dislocation of economic migrants across borders.

* Political Openness: Eugene Platt is the embodiment of effective local politicians who do not fit inside the mainstream. If we cannot incorporate common-sense progressive proposals into the political debate, our society is the poorer for it, mistakes will be made, and opportunities missed.

About the Green Party
The Green Party of the United States has participated in local and congressional elections since the 1980s, notably in the Presidential election to 2000, when nominee Ralph Nader received 2.3% of the national vote.  For more information visit: http://gp.org.

The South Carolina Green Party nominee Tom Clements of Columbia received 121,472 votes or 9.25% of the total in the 2010 U.S. Senate election running against a Democrat and a Republican.  For more information, visit http://scgreenparty.org.

Campaign Links
Eugene Platt for Congress:  http://www.voteplatt.com
Eugene Platt for Congress on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eugene-Platt-for-Congress/14190535917

Green Party Links
Green Party of the United States:  http://gp.org
South Carolina Green Party:  http://scgreenparty.org
South Carolina Green Party on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/SouthCarolinaGreenParty