LIBERTARIAN WANTS IN ON DEBATES 'ISSUES-ORIENTED CAMPAIGN' CITED

William Redpath, the Libertarian Party's candidate for governor, wants to
be included in the upcoming debates and calls his exclusion a disservice to
the voters of Virginia.

While admitting his chances for victory "are very much a long shot,"
Redpath told reporters at a Capitol news conference yesterday he should
participate in the gubernatorial debates because he is a legitimate candidate.

"I am waging an issues-oriented campaign," he said, citing his support of
tuition tax credits, elimination of capital punishment and repeal of
consensual crime laws.

At issue are three upcoming gubernatorial debates that will feature the
major-party candidates, Republican Mark L. Earley and Democrat Mark R.
Warner, and from which Redpath said he was excluded.

Redpath, a financial analyst who lives in Fairfax County, said the
residents of Virginia should hear from all of the candidates. He said he
met Virginia's stringent candidacy requirements and was certified by the
state elections board in late June.

To say he faces an uphill battle is an understatement. In a recent
Washington Post poll, he scored 2 percent among registered voters. As of
June 30, he had raised about $11,300 and had a cash deficit of $5,150.

The two-party mindset is strong in Virginia and hard to overcome, he said.

Redpath said he has tried numerous times to contact the Virginia State
Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People, which is sponsoring the next debate on Sept. 17 at George Mason
University. Until yesterday, Redpath had not heard from the civil rights
group, which he accused of discriminating against him as a political minority.

In a letter to Redpath, King Salim Khalfani, the group's executive
director, wrote he did not know of the Libertarian's campaign in the spring
when the group was beginning debate negotiations with the two other parties.

Redpath's request "came too late in the process," Khalfani wrote.

"If we had known of your campaign prior to our long awaited confirmation by
the two parties we would have been receptive to your request," he wrote.
"But we had no prior knowledge of your campaign. We truly regret that we
cannot include you in the gubernatorial debate."

The Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a debate Sept. 21.
Redpath said the board voted against letting him join although it said it
will distribute his fliers. The race's first debate took place in July
before the Virginia Bar Association and didn't include Redpath.

The only televised statewide debate is scheduled for Oct. 7. The Virginia
Capitol Correspondents Association and the University Center for Government
Studies is sponsoring that event. In a statement, the sponsors cited
precedent of inviting only candidates who poll in the double digits.

Also, they feared Earley and Warner would not agree to a debate "that
included a third party candidate who was not generating a great deal of
attention for himself among the electorate."

The debate's moderator will mention Redpath's candidacy in the debate if he
is not able to advance in the polls and join the event.

During the last gubernatorial race four years ago, the Virginia Reform
Party candidate unsuccessfully sued over being excluded from a debate held
at Virginia Commonwealth University. Redpath said a legal challenge "would
probably not be a fruitful way to go."

VCU wants to hold another debate next month, which would be moderated by
former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder. Talks among the candidates and organizers
are continuing.