When I said “airtime” I meant exposure to the public… be it TV or “campaigning”.
Grassroots political action is fine for local political positions… but for other campaigns it would have been hard with the insurgency and US military occupation. I don’t think there was much “grassrooting” or not enough. So the fact that this guarantees Allawi’s election is sad in a way… even if he seems to be the least worst for the job. Many candidates were anonyomous too… this isn’t a good start for democracy no matter how we spin it. Though we might say that its the best in the current conditions… (but conditions that are the responsibility of the US.)