An emergency public meeting

HOW TO GET OUT OF IRAQ...
AND WHY ATTACKING IRAN WOULD BE REALLY DUMB

Featuring two intelligence experts (who happen to be New Yorkers)

SCOTT RITTER
Former U.N. Weapons Inspector

and

RAY McGOVERN
Former Senior CIA Analyst (27-year veteran)

With observations by

JEFF COHEN
Author of “Cable News Confidential” and the founder of FAIR

and

JONATHAN TASINI
Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate from New York

All five CANDIDATES FOR U.S. SENATE FROM NEW YORK
have been invited to take part in this important community forum

Jeff Cohen will appear with Scott Ritter and Ray McGovern at a public forum in New York City this Sunday night titled "How To Get Out of Iraq." All New York senate candidates have been invited to participate. So far Sen. Clinton hasn't responded to the invitation. Jonathan Tasini will be there.

Hillary Still Hiding on War; Time Warner Provides Cover
Jeff Cohen

The cover story in the new issue of TIME, the flagship publication of the Time Warner media empire, informs readers that Hillary Clinton has "virtually nonexistent opposition for her senate seat."

Hold that phrase in your head. Because at another outpost of the Time Warner empire, decisions have been made that help ensure Sen. Clinton will have "virtually nonexistent opposition."

Time Warner's NY1 TV news channel ("the CNN of New York") adamantly refuses to host a Democratic New York Senate debate. Despite protests over its decision, NY1 says it is giving incumbent Clinton a no-debate free pass because her antiwar challenger, union leader Jonathan Tasini, has not raised enough money; the channel arbitrarily set the bar at a half-million dollars. This despite the fact that Tasini has reached 13% in polls. (NY1 first announced its no-debate ruling just as Ned Lamont -- given no chance months ago -- was defeating pro-war incumbent Joe Lieberman in Connecticut's primary.)

Ironically, NY1 has already hosted and televised a Democratic New York gubernatorial debate between frontrunner Eliot Spitzer and a Democratic challenger who was at only 10% in the polls. But that candidate had raised about $6 million. So spending millions to get just 10% in popular support was rewarded by Time Warner's channel, while building a more effective grassroots campaign, largely of volunteers, was punished. (One wonders how much of the money went to NY1.)

NY TIMES CALLS FOR CLINTON TO DEBATE TASINI

NEW YORK, NY - Jonathan Tasini, Democratic Senate candidate in New York, today released the following statement on The New York Times editorial (see below) which called on Hillary Clinton to agree to debate Tasini. The New York Times joins The New York Post, The Albany Times Union and Newsday in calling for a debate in the primary:

"Voices from across the spectrum are calling on Hillary Clinton to stop hiding behind her political machine and come out and debate the issues. Voters in New York have many questions of the incumbent and they deserve to have answers before they cast a vote on September 12th. Voters want to know who would best represent them on matters of security, the economy and civil rights. I am ready to debate my opponent any time and any place and as many times as we can agree on from now through September 12th. The Republicans have debated, the Democrats in the governor's and attorney general's race have debated. What is my opponent afraid of?"

Editorial
Hillary Clinton’s Low Profile

Published: August 21, 2006

With only a few weeks until New York’s Sept. 12 primary elections, many people are probably still unaware that Senator Hillary Clinton is facing a challenge for the Democratic nomination. Her opponent, Jonathan Tasini, is low on almost everything, from funds to name recognition. Mrs. Clinton has successfully ignored Mr. Tasini all summer, and now it seems clear that she has no intention of responding to his demands that she meet him in a debate.

She should change her mind. In a year when New York has very few competitive elections, voters are going to get very little chance to hear serious discussions from the candidates. Since Mr. Tasini is running an antiwar campaign, it would be very useful for New Yorkers to have a chance to hear the two Democratic candidates debate that one issue.

New York voters have been exposed to all the political drama in Connecticut over Senator Joseph Lieberman, who like Mrs. Clinton supported the invasion of Iraq. She has been far more critical of the Bush administration’s handling of the war — a point the Clinton campaign makes pains to point out. But she has not been forced to discuss in great detail exactly what she thinks should be done now that things have gone so far awry in the Middle East.

Presuming she wins the primary, Mrs. Clinton will go up against a weak Republican candidate this fall. Anything can happen in an election, but there is a very good chance she could coast all the way to November without being tested on any important issue. Right now is a good time to make sure that does not happen.

NY1 Dismisses Calls for Tasini-Clinton Debate

On August 4, FAIR issued an action alert calling for New York cable news channel NY1 to allow Democratic antiwar candidate Jonathan Tasini to debate incumbent Sen. Hillary Clinton as part of its series of televised primary debates. NY1, which is owned by Time Warner, had created rules for participation that required candidates to not only stand at 5 percent in polls (Tasini has reached 13 percent) but to have raised or spent at least $500,000.

NY1 senior vice president Steve Paulus has responded (Associated Press, 8/15/06) that while $500,000 "seems like a lot of money" to many, "there are 5.5 million registered Democrats in New York. All Tasini would need is for each one to send him a dollar. Right now, with the money he's raised, he does not represent the party he claims to represent."

Paulus' suggestion that the amount of money a candidate raises defines whether he or she represents the party is absurd and dangerous; much of Clinton's campaign chest has come not from one dollar donations from registered New York Democrats but from wealthy corporate employees and their employers—like Time Warner, which according to FEC.gov has donated thousands of dollars to Clinton's campaign through its Political Action Committee. Clinton also received money from a July 16 fundraiser held for her by Rupert Murdoch, a conservative media mogul not known for supporting the Democratic Party or its interests. It would seem that voter signatures to put a candidate on the ballot (Tasini collected 40,000, well above the required 15,000) would be a better measure of that candidate's legitimacy within the party than an arbitrary amount of funds raised from such sources—or from any source.

Moreover, as an antiwar candidate challenging Clinton's pro-war record, Tasini would appear to represent the Democratic Party even better than Clinton on that central issue: A recent poll showed that 78 percent of Democrats want candidates who oppose the Iraq War (Zogby, 8/9/06).