Democratic Exclusion

Well, now, this isn't very nice. According to Democracy Now, Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich were excluded from the last debate in Iowa, despite having the same polling numbers as other candidates. Why exclude these gentlemen? It wasn't like they were going to have the chance to speak during the debate anyway, so why not let them stand up there while Obama and Edwards attack Hilary? True, neither Gravel nor Kucinich would have a snowball's chance in hell of winning the presidency if nominated, but that doesn't mean they should be excluded from debates. If anything, these two add an ideological life to the debates that other candidates fail to bring with them, and Kucinich certainly knows how to keep the others on their toes.