Gividen allowed in 3rd debate

INDIANAPOLIS -- The campaigns for Gov. Joe Kernan and Republican challenger Mitch Daniels on Tuesday reversed a decision that would have excluded the Libertarian Party candidate from a weekend debate.\nThe debate, planned for Sunday at IU-Southeast in New Albany, will be expanded from an hour to 90 minutes to include Libertarian candidate Kenn Gividen, Democratic Party spokesman Terry Burns said.\nGividen had participated in a Sept. 28 debate at Franklin College, the only previous meeting of the gubernatorial candidates.\nLibertarians protested the exclusion of their candidate, with Gividen saying he believed voters were being cheated out of hearing from all those on the Nov. 2 ballot.\n"The voters need to hear our message," he said Tuesday. "As of last night, we thought we were kicked out of the debate."\nTuesday morning, though, he said he turned on the radio "and all they were talking about was me."\nDaniels campaign spokesman Marc Lotter said final details of the debate were still being worked out but that Daniels believed it was important for Gividen to participate.\n"The voters want to be able to hear from all the candidates who are on the ballot, and we're happy that they'll be able to do so," Lotter said.\nBurns said that Kernan also supported Gividen's participation and that the governor had pushed for his inclusion in last month's debate.\nAn Indianapolis Star/WTHR statewide poll released last week showed Daniels leading Kernan 46 percent to 43 percent, with Gividen receiving 3 percent support.\nIn southern Indiana, where voters typically favor Democrats in gubernatorial elections, Kernan was leading. But 16 percent of the area's voters surveyed were undecided -- the largest percentage of any region in the state.\nThe broadcast of the debate at the IU campus in the city just north of Louisville, Ky., was to be made available to all public and commercial television stations to show live or later.\nBut Burns said the shorter format had been considered to try to persuade commercial stations to broadcast the debate.\n"We want as many Hoosiers as possible to see this debate," Burns said. "It turns out the network stations aren't interested in airing the debate live on Sunday, so it was decided to go back to a 90-minute format."\nWhile the Democrats and Republicans both claimed credit for championing Gividen's cause to join Sunday's debate, Gividen did not seem interested in those details.\n"Tell me where to show up and when to be there," he said. "As far as stand up, sit down, I don't care because I can say the same thing no matter what the format is"