BRIDGEPORT FIRST HQ RECEIVED A CALL AT 3:40 PM TODAY FROM CABLEVISION EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AMY PACKHAM. NEWS 12 HAS OFFICIALLY CHANGED THEIR POLICY OF EXCLUSION AND INVITED BRIDGEPORT FIRST MAYORAL CANDIDATE COUNCILMAN KEITH RODGERSON TO JOIN THE TELEVISED DEBATE. MANY THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO SIGNED OUR PETITION AND MADE CALLS ON OUR BEHALF. SPECIAL THANKS TO JIM DEAN AT DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA AND CRAIG KELLY OF THE NAACP FOR PITCHING IN. In a two-party country third parties appear from time to time to bring a voice to issues that otherwise would go unheard. When Councilman Keith Rodgerson left the Democratic Party in his one-party city of Bridgeport, CT he formed the non-partisan Bridgeport First Party. He did so because of the pervading influence of special interest money amongst municipal candidates, the extent of the city\'s patronage system, the majorities of city employees on the City Council and the multiple corruption trials that had soiled the image of his party nearly beyond repair. Tom Appleby of Cablevision News 12 in Norwalk, CT has arbitrarily decided to ban Bridgeport First Mayoral Candidate Keith Rodgerson and other independent candidates from the Bridgeport, CT mayoral debates�thereby excluding every candidate of color and a sitting councilman who has served nearly half a decade on the Bridgeport City Council. When democracy is under fire and the media prejudices the electoral process Americans must be vigilant and fight for the right of candidates to have equal access to the public. We ask of you today to sign this petition and to join us for a protest outside of the Cablevision News 12 offices at 9am on Friday November 2nd to force Tom Appleby and News 12 to not exclude Councilman Keith Rodgerson from that morning\'s debate. The news station is located at 28 Cross Street in Norwalk, CT. Take a moment out of your day and call Tom Appleby @ 203.849-1321 to let him know that democracy is a right and not an luxury. Let him know that it is the poor urban residents of the city of Bridgeport that should decide their future and not some suburbanite reporter. Take a moment out to ask advertisers Norwalk Mattress (203.866.6913) and Empire (1.800.588.2300) to support equal time for municipal candidates and to not support party bias in the media. We hope you can visit WWW.BRIDGEPORTFIRST.ORG today to learn more about our campaign for democracy and change in the struggling city of Bridgeport, CT. Thank for your support!

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