Imagine our surprise when we checked the Pace University website last night only to find that the Senate Town Hall Meeting, scheduled for August 22nd, is now marked CANCELLED. As you know, Jonathan Tasini was denied participation in this event due to the arbitrary "threshold" set by NY1 of $500,000 either raised or spent by the campaign. NY1 presented a Republican Senate debate last weekend; no Democratic Senate debate was set.

So this is NY1's response to the outpouring of grassroots outrage to the station’s suppression of political debate? NY1 feared the power of the grassroots, the power of regular citizens.

Steve Paulus, senior vice president at NY1, weighs in with this brilliant suggestion:

"There are 5.5 million registered Democrats in New York," Paulus said. "All Tasini would need is for each one to send him a dollar."

Gosh, who knew it was so easy to get your voice heard on NY1! Simple! Just collect a buck from every New York Democrat. Why didn't we think of that?

NY1 stands by decision not to host Democratic Senate debate
8/15/2006, 5:51 p.m. ET
By BETH FOUHY
The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — An all-news cable television station is standing by its decision not to host a debate between Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and the anti-war activist challenging her in the state's Democratic primary.

NY1 has been criticized in recent weeks for refusing to include a Democratic Senate debate among its political offerings this summer. So far, NY1 has hosted debates involving the state's Democratic gubernatorial candidates and Republican Senate candidates. It will host a forum for the state's Democratic candidates for attorney general later this week.

But a debate between Clinton and Jonathan Tasini did not materialize because NY1 executives determined the cash-strapped Tasini cannot be considered a viable candidate.

Answer: Just about everyone, apparently.

Eli Pariser's answer sounds rather familiar. "Threshold" is the new buzzword in New York politics. Robert Hardt at NY1 seems to have started a trend.

August 14, 2006
How MoveOn Finesses the War on Her Behalf
Who's Afraid of Hillary Clinton?
By NORMAN SOLOMON

The leading pro-war Democrat in the Senate is hoping for a landslide in the New York primary next month. And unless progressives quickly mobilize to dent her vote total, she's likely to get it.

Hillary Clinton, of course, intends to be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2008. But first there's her quest to win big for reelection. If antiwar voters cut into Clinton's percentage in the primary on Sept. 12, despite overwhelming media visibility and a massive campaign war chest, her momentum would take a hit.

After Sen. Joe Lieberman lost to antiwar challenger Ned Lamont in Connecticut's Democratic primary last week, I thought some more about the fast-approaching Senate race in New York, where anti-war candidate Jonathan Tasini will be on the ballot next to Clinton.

Tasini, a former president of the National Writers Union, is more strongly and consistently antiwar than Lamont. And Tasini is an all-around progressive on issues from trade to economic justice to health care to the Middle East. But his campaign is underfunded. In contrast, the very wealthy Lamont self-financed his campaign with a few million dollars.

So Hillary Clinton goes to the Hamptons this weekend and collects half a million dollars from people who oppose the war. What's wrong with this picture? One Clinton donor tells a reporter, "I really want to hear her explain why she voted for the war and why she hasn't changed her position" - this as he is driving up to a mansion in order to write her a $1000 check. Attention Joe Baldi: Please, call us!

Questions, cash flow for Clinton at fundraiser
BY GLENN THRUSH
Newsday Washington Bureau
August 13, 2006

The drinks were flowing and so were the $1,000 checks, but there was also an undertow of resentment over Hillary Rodham Clinton's support of the Iraq war at an East End fundraiser for the senator yesterday.

The New York Democrat's campaign said a Friday night dinner and three events yesterday were overbooked and overwhelmingly successful. But days after Ned Lamont toppled Joe Lieberman in Connecticut, some Clinton donors, many of them from the Manhattan arts community, faced her down over the war during a sometimes tense brunch yesterday morning in North Haven.

"I really want to hear her explain why she voted for the war and why she hasn't changed her position," said Joe Baldi, pulling up to the iron gates that led to the beachside mansion of Clinton supporter Lisa Perry.

When $45,000,0000 is not enough, head to the Hamptons! But even a $45 millionairesse owes the voters an opportunity to hear the candidates debate the issues. That's democracy, Senator. From Newsday:

Hillary in the Hamptons
Sen. Clinton arrives ready to raise funds in East End; curtails questions about debate before primary
August 12, 2006

U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton kicked off her Long Island fundraising tour Friday with an announcement about federal funding to save the shorelines and sidestepped whether she'd debate primary challenger Jonathan Tasini.

Tasini, a critic of Clinton's support for the Iraq invasion, has demanded five debates with her before the Sept. 12 primary. Clinton was noncommittal when pressed on the matter Friday.

"Well, we'll just have to see how the campaign develops," Clinton said at Overlook Beach in Babylon town.

***

Clinton has also resisted Tasini's attempts at getting her to debate him. In a letter to Sen. Clinton last week, Tasini suggested that one debate focus exclusively on the war in Iraq and the Middle East, and that another be held in Buffalo, a city that has lost manufacturing jobs, to discuss the state's economy.

Tasini, the former head of the National Writers Union, has raised about $100,000 from donors. Clinton had amassed $22 million before the Hamptons trip.