Jill Stein Is Killing the Green Party

Pretending they had a chance in a voting system that can barely support two parties was kinda pitiable. Until we have RCV for federal elections at a minimum, they will never have a shot.

The fact that they're not doing that but just going straight for an unwinnable Presidential election tells you a lot.

Yeah, to be relevant they need to win some elections in large cities and state legislatures. That would be the base necessary to start winning congressional seats and then work up from there. Because the Jill Stein narcissism tour every four years is clearly doing more harm than good.

And it would be the best thing in the world for the Dems. They need cogent and real opposition and right now they’re just running against crazies - which is important, but doesn’t do much for establishing an agenda. A functional Green Party would actually help pull the Dems back more to the left.

I remember in the late 90s the Green Party in my district was on a roll, culminating in the election of a member to the California State Assembly (one of the highest posts ever held by the Greens in the US). Then came Nader’s presidential bid and its perceived role in the election of Bush, which permanently crippled the legitimacy of the local party. They’re still doing great work with voter guides, legislative analysis, etc.; but they’ll never escape the shadow of Nader and Stein.

I think the only viable path for a third party now is to start a new one from scratch, and disavow presidential bids from the outset.

If they were a serious political party. But that would require you to believe that they are wildly incompetent and being supported for that incompetence. Rather than they're doing this intentionally. Not seriously running to win or improve anything. But being a divisive spectacle to destroy solidarity on the left.

Sam Seder has been saying rhis for a decade at this point.

Its how you build a political movement.

This is how the Tea Party and MAGA co-opted the Republicans, and it's the model progressives should use to move the needle in the Democratic party (and they have, with some success).

If progressives want to see change, progressives need to vote. In every election. General or primary.

What makes you think a politically irrelevant person like Stein would capture the attention of putin?

Oh hey wow who put that picture here.

And the republican billionaires who think you will spoil races.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/republican-allies-jill-stein-green-party-democrats-ballots-battleground-states/

How does the Green Party suddenly get money around election time when they don’t do shit for the previous four years?

People are asking.

Maybe has something to do with the dinner she had with him.

https://zeteo.com/p/exclusive-mehdi-interviews-jill-stein?utm_campaign=post

For those that don't want to give Elon fucking muskrat a click. Fuck Twitter.

Edit: never mind it's a preview... So fucking important but we need to pay him to see it.

Is there a good article out there with highlights of the interview? I feel like this would merit its own post, it's an amazing watch and very important to see for those still considering Stein a legitimate option.

Indeed. I might vote for some Greens down-ballot, but Stein is a stain on the party and its cause

then you are effectively falling right in line with the lies the DNC sold you since the "russian agent" theory is easily debunked after 5 seconds of googling.

Because of foreign financing to draw votes away from the Democrats.

I don't understand how a genocide can be taken so lightly. Some people have trouble casting a vote for any political party that sponsors one.

lol you guys give in to propaganda so fucking easily

I know, it's like when Jews bring up the Holocaust all the time. So annoying!

Haha oh really. It had nothing to do with Hilary being the worst candidate ever? The authoritarian electoral college founded to preserve slavery? The rampant voter suppression by Republicans that Democrats refuse to stop. It was all her fault huh?

The Green party is doing exactly what it was designed to do. It's siphoning off eco-conscious Democratic voters just significantly enough to affect voting margins but not enough to win. To be clear I'm not saying that Even a significant number of people in the green party have that as a goal, but top down, that's all it's about.

We are a two-party system and they are allowing the green party to exist to use it as a wedge.

The issue is she sucks all the oxygen out of the room with her pointless presidential runs and does nothing for the four years in between. There’s an inconsequential number of Greens who run and win elections in small cities and towns or less consequential elections, and none of them have won any federal elections. A real party leader would recruit and foster candidates in large cities and state legislatures— and then get folks to run for the US House, the Senate, state governorships, and then the presidency.

Stein is less a party leader and more a figurehead who basically seems to be in it for the grift. And so US Greens (especially in comparison to those in the EU) are less a party and more just a convenient label for those of a certain bent that want to run as something other than as a Democrat.

Counter-counterpoint: the Tea Party was an astroturf movement funded by big oil, big tobacco and the Koch brothers. Given massive amounts of support by media companies (lots and lots of oxygen). With the purpose of taking over the GOP and entrenching their toxic industries and power.

With the perspective we have now it is clear that their plan was to push Republican supporters over into fascism (not to say that it wasn't latent within many of them) and reduce the risks of democracy to the oligarchy.

That's interesting.

My brain's first answer was 435, then I took 538 and subtracted the 100 senators and got to 438.

But that's including the 3 from DC I think, so back to 435? Gonna look this up.

Edit: 435, must've been DC.

Pretty sure they’re referring to individual donations where those companies are the employer.

The writer of the article read it on Facebook. Fake news is the new standard.

It's true. Where the hell does the green party matter? I'm not saying this is how it should be, but it's how it is.

So basically what you're saying is you're not voting this year.

Cool. Not sure I’ve seen anyone arguing against that point.

And of course you’ve been working all the time for the past four years in support of socialism and liberation? Because of course, you wouldn’t be one of the people who only jump in every four years with a third party vote because they think it makes them edgy and cool? That would just be sad.

will be voting for the PSL if they're on the ballot in my state, Claudia De la Cruz is great. if they don't make it on the ballot then it'll probably go to Stein as I believe she's confirmed on the ballot in my state, but the PSL is my first choice!

edit: just checked, the PSL is indeed on the ballot in my state, so they've got my vote :3

Tell me a flagship green policy of hers, if you can find it.

So no thoughts on perennial sorta kinda candidate Stein making the Green Party a laughingstock then? Or the fact that with her campaign only surviving with the help of GOP operatives and Russian propaganda campaigns, she’s actually making it harder to take third party candidates seriously at any level of government?

Harris wants to win over Stein voters, this is definitely not the way to do it.

This is true, I've already spoken to all 7 of them, they're mad.

Good thing then this is an opinion piece from a publication, and not something from Harris?

If Stein voters are offended by an article that a journalist writes about how ineffectual the Green Party is, and they blame Harris for that, that says more about the voters than it does anything else.

Namely that Greens will blame everyone except themselves for election losses.

Stein has been a known Russian asset and Democratic spoiler candidate for about a decade now, being "Green" has never actually had anything to do with her political goals.

You're seeing anti-Stein rhetoric lately because it's a Presidential election year and that's the only time the Green party tries to be visible.

I'm sure the two or three Green people at the local level believe in the party's stated platform, but at the higher level it absolutely looks like the party exists only to siphon votes away from the Democratic party.

I would suggest you do your own research, but she’s run several times, has no real experience or qualifications, and has been shown multiple times to be benefiting (either knowingly or unknowingly) from both GOP operatives and Russian interference.

Personally I fully support third parties - if they do more than just show up as spoilers every four years. Jill Stein has been doing zilch to push the Green Party forward except in presidential election years. And as a result she’s doing more harm to folks who want more options than not.

How much do you hear about the Green Party OTHER than the presidential election? That should tell you quite a bit.

Note that I went to her own platform page and that was enough for me to be a hard pass even if I went worried about Trump and even I never heard anything from anyone about her.

The deal breakers for me were:

• Disband NATO.
• Stop material support of Ukraine

There's a bit more I find to be problematic, but those are sufficient.

It's because she's strong on issues that Harris is weak on...especially the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Stein agrees with the majority of the Democrats: we should quit funding the genocide. Harris wants to continue funding it.