Green Party presidential hopeful Dr. Jill Stein and her running mate Ajamu Baraka are planning a campaign rally September 3 in Detroit – the same day Republican Donald Trump will be stumping for votes in the Motor City. Most Americans, excepting Trump’s “Second Amendment people” (who will be on the edge of their seats for Trump’s words), would probably prefer to watch “Seinfeld” reruns than Trump and Hillary.
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“We are in a violent society”, Stein said on ABC’s “This Week”.
On Saturday, Fort Collins is going to have its first presidential candidate visit. If it were to happen nearly immediately, it could push Gary Johnson over the threshold for making the debates, and if he lays off the doobies before ascending the stage, that could be something of a game-changer for him.
“Most voters have rejected the Democratic and Republican party”.
In IRV, a voter ranks as numerous candidates for a particular office as he or she wishes. As far as I know, only talk radio allows them to discuss their ideas, which all voters need to hear. I can not think of any other election where more sane speakers should be heard. Likewise any advance for Stein, whose left-wing supporters are surely likelier to break for Clinton, must be good news for Trump.
Representing the Green Party, Stein is chasing a smaller pool of voters, mostly on the Left. True, purists in the “never Trump” or “never Clinton” camp might still vote for only Johnson or only Stein, but at least some voters will rank more than one candidate.
IRV benefits third parties. If you’re exhausted of arguing politics on Facebook all day, here’s a good chance to switch things up and argue planetary nomenclature instead. The former New Mexico governor got 16 percent in the Colorado Quinnipiac poll. So, historically, having a big and adamant third-party vote has supported the great social justice causes of the day. But odds are the minor parties will have a minor effect on the outcome. Debs won nearly 1 million votes in 1920, when he ran from the jail cell to which he had been confined during the “Red Scare” assault on civil liberties following World War I. Thomas received nearly as many votes in 1932, in the first presidential election of the Great Depression era.
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Colorado didn’t favor either of the eventual major party candidates during the primary season. Jill Stein should have the next choice. Voters who would vote for a third party were it not for the risk of supporting a spoiler have the comfort of knowing that they can vote their top choice without thereby inadvertently aiding their last choice. IRV thus greatly reduces the risk of a spoiler candidacy, even as it confers valuable information to the major parties. All are familiar with the unexpected challenge Clinton faced as she marched to her “inevitable coronation” in the Democratic Party. By trying to drown out the Green Party message, and keep down the Green Party vote, stubborn major-party supporters are making it so that in December, whoever has won this election can turn his or her back on the people, the environment, and the goal of ending war. Lobby your party and/or candidate for a better platform or issues list.
