Elections may be the last thing people are thinking about. However, with talk already of candidates wanting to run for the presidency all candidates -- including those from alternative parties -- should not be excluded from potential debates.

In the past, we've seen candidates like Ross Perot -- who had won a large percentage of the vote four years earlier -- excluded from presidential debates. We have seen Ralph Nader, who at the time was polling higher than 5 percent, shut out of the debates in 2000.

Yes, news organizations deserve the right to make their own decisions. But when the debates they arrange are one of the only ways a large portion of the population learns about political candidates, they have a responsibility to paint a complete picture of the candidates voters can choose from.

What would have happened in 1998 if Gov. Jesse Ventura had not been included in gubernatorial debates? He could have run all the witty ads in the world, but chances are he would not have won the election. Some Minnesotans would have preferred it that way, but that's beside the point.

The case illustrates that inclusion in debates is a key for "third-party" candidates to have a chance for victory.