THIRD-PARTY WATCH: Growing Chorus of Voices Warn of Third-Party Threat
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, MoveOn Political Action spotlights the growing chorus of voices raising the alarm on how third-party presidential candidates could damage Democratic chances again in 2024.
Pete Rothpletz of The New Republic points out that Jill Stein has made the Green Party even worse off than it was before. Echoing an earlier critique by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rothpletz points out that Stein has done next to nothing to build the party over the years, nor is she focused on actually achieving long-term progressive power:
“This meager coalition can’t possibly kick-start a legitimate political movement, capable of organizing voters and advancing ideas outside of perennial electoral events. It’s just large enough, however, to spoil the work of those who put in this kind of work.”
Separately, The New York Times’ Gail Collins reminds voters how third-party candidates like Jill Stein derailed previous elections and have failed to build power since then:
“… Jill Stein. Whose presence on the ballot in a few swing states was just enough to keep Hillary Clinton from beating Donald Trump in 2016.”
“They’re not exactly building a movement, and as Ocasio-Cortez said, if ‘all you do is show up every four years,’ you really ought to be doing something else. Maybe running for a less ridiculous office, the way Ocasio-Cortez did when she knocked off an entrenched and deeply unthrilling House veteran in 2018.”
Perhaps most damningly, columnist Erika D. Smith, who has known Cornel West for many years and “likes him a lot,” took to Bloomberg to raise the alarm about what’s at stake in this race and how Cornel West is endangering vulnerable communities:
“It’s maddening coming from West, who, though a longtime rabble rouser, has taught at Yale, Princeton and Harvard, and served as co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. The same goes for Abdullah, who I’ve covered for years, and has a doctorate in political science and is a professor of Pan-African studies at California State University, Los Angeles.
“Both have spent decades dedicated to the noble causes of racial, social and economic justice. They understand what they are risking, particularly for marginalized people who would suffer most under a second Trump presidency.”
BACKGROUND:
More and more folks are abandoning third-party candidates, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t still have an impact in November.
- All seven key battleground states will have at least one spoiler candidate on the ballot.
- Stein’s vote total alone was enough to flip Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to Donald Trump in 2016. The Green and Libertarian parties combined to change the outcome in Arizona and Florida in that election.
- The Biden-Harris ticket won Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin by fewer than 20,000 votes in 2020.
- Third-party candidates are polling high enough in more than half the battlegrounds to potentially lock the Democratic ticket out of a victory.
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