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Jill Stein's third vanity project run for the presidency [1]

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Date: 2023-11-09

Is the third time a charm? Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate in 2012 and 2016, has announced she is taking another shot at the presidency in 2024. If you add in her two failed attempts to become Massachusetts Governor in 2002 and 2012, she will ring in the 2025 New Year as a five-time failure in major elections. Her high point will have been the 3.4% of the vote she scored in MA in 2002.

In addition to the Democratic candidate (almost certainly President Joe Biden) and the Republican candidate (probably Trump), she will join RFK Jr. and Cornell West, who are running as independents. In addition, the retiring Sen. Manchin is exploring a run, likely as the Orwellian named “No Labels” Party representative

At this point, third-party aficionados probably expect me to point out the spoiler effect of third-party candidates. And discuss how their candidates’s vanity projects sometimes produce Presidents who are the antithesis of their aims. For instance, in 2000, the Nader/Green vote gave the presidency to Bush, a fossil fuel guy, over Gore, who was a climate change believer.

But that ground has been well-tilled, so I will not bother. But I am curious what these third-party candidates consider a win.

The last viable new party in American politics was the Republicans. But they did not spring out of nowhere. The GOP formed in 1854 and comprised anti-slavery activists, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers. Put simplistically, the GOP had wide support and a network of experienced politicians. And following the divisions that killed the Whig Party after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, they had a wide-open space on the political spectrum available.

Those circumstances do not exist today. So what is Stein trying to accomplish besides giving 1% of the electorate someone to waste their vote on?

The Green Party has been around since 1996. The current version, the Green Party of the United States (GPUS) formed in 2001. I am not sure what they have achieved in the last 27 years. They have no representation at the national level and not much in the states. According to Wikipedia:

"As of September 2020, 117 officeholders in the United States were affiliated with the Green Party,[1] the majority of them in California, several in Illinois, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, with five or fewer in ten other states. [1][2] These included one mayor and one deputy mayor, and fourteen county or city commissioners (or equivalent). The remainder were members of school boards, clerks, and other local administrative bodies and positions. [2]"

They would be better served if they took the millions they spend promoting look-at-me presidential candidates and invested that money in building a viable third party. They have policies that are very attractive to many — I like many — but they are doing nothing evident to increase their footprint on the American political scene.

They should focus on a potential gold mine - college students. To that end, they should look at the success the conservative group Turning Point USA (TPUSA) has had on college campuses. Those reactionaries may not have created a third party, but they forced the GOP, along with the older folk of the Tea Party, closer to their philosophy.

They should also aim for the lower-level offices. If they can start winning those in increasing numbers, people will pay attention.

Most importantly, they should lobby for ranked choice (aka instant runoff) elections. That way, people who might be simpatico to their cause will happily cast a vote for them, knowing that when the Green Party candidate crashed and burned, they had still cast a ballot for a candidate with a chance.

Soon, if the Green Party maintains policies people like, they will cease to be spoiler candidates and start winning some races. And with that momentum, who knows?

Jill Stein does not appear to have put in the work needed to build a viable party. The Greens need someone charismatic and telegenic to be the face of the party. Someone willing to sweat and break fingernails. Someone who will toil in the media trenches every day. Not someone who swans in periodically for no one’s benefit except their own. Whatever that is.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/9/2204771/-Jill-Stein-announces-she-is-running-for-the-presidency?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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