As a Bernie Sanders supporter, I cannot vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Here’s why.
To be honest, I never really cared for Stein, but that lack of regard turned into concern when she came out in July and proclaimed that she didn’t mind helping Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton.
In a July 21st interview (captured on video) Stein told Rhode Island Future: “Sometimes you have to lose elections to build your power.”
Because we don’t get out of this hole unless we build our power. We don’t change this system unless we challenge it. In the words of Frederick Douglass “power concedes nothing without a demand.” It never has, it never will. We’ve been doing this lesser evil thing for quite a while right now and this politics of fear has brought us everything we are afraid of. All those things we didn’t want we’ve gotten by the droves because the lesser evil essentially silences us.
Asked about all the Supreme Court justices Trump would appoint if elected, Stein responded:
As opposed to having Hillary Clinton in power starting an air war with Russia over Syria because she wants a no-fly zone? She’s all about challenging Russia and provoking Russia and surrounding Russia with nuclear weapons and missiles and troops. Do we really want an aggressive war hawk in the White House who has a proven track record of actually doing the things that Donald Trump says?
NBC News reported earlier today that: “With polls showing at least some interest in third-party candidates this year, Stein, the Green Party’s nominee for president, seems unsure how to speak to anyone this side of Noam Chomsky. Her strategy is heavily dependent on winning over Sanders supporters, and Sanders’ playbook is right there for the taking. So far, she’s misread it.”
She certainly has missed it with me – as confirmed by her hour-and-a-half town hall aired on CNN Wednesday night along with her vice presidential running mate Ajamu Baraka.
Here are six reasons why i cannot and will not vote for Jill Stein for president.
1. As noted above, Stein does not mind handing the election to Trump despite the kind of damage he could cause to the country if elected. Bernie Sanders formally endorsed Hillary Clinton back in July, telling the world: “I intend to do everything I can to make certain she will be the next president of the United States.” Stein’s message: “I will have trouble sleeping at night if Donald Trump is elected. I will also have trouble sleeping at night if Hillary Clinton is elected. And as despicable as Donald Trump’s words are, I find Hillary Clinton’s actions and track record is very troubling”
2. Sanders offered an optimistic vision for the country with his “America” campaign ad and a slogan promising “A Future to Believe in.” On the other hand, Stein’s message this week was: “We don’t really have a future right now to offer our younger generation.”
3. As NBC News reported: “Where Sanders tempered his disappointment with President Obama to avoid needlessly alienating people who feel warmly about the country’s first black president, Baraka defended calling Obama ‘your uncle tom president’ in a blog post. Baraka said he used the slur that describes a black person too eager to please whites in order ‘to shock people’ into thinking more critically about Obama. ‘I stand by that, even though it sounds very inflammatory, and provocative, and probably very strange to this massive audience here tonight,’ he told CNN host Chris Cuomo.
4. Sanders vowed to fight ISIS on his own terms, acknowledging voters’ concerns regarding terrorism, detailing a plan to rally our Mideast allies to destroy the militant group. Stein dismissed the issues stating”ISIS is not about to launch a major attack against our country.”
5. Sanders defended Clinton’s use of a private email server during the first Democratic primary debate, exclaiming: “The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.” He went on to state: “enough of the emails. Let’s talk about the real issues facing America.” Stein’s response to the controversy was “with Hillary’s abuse of the rules, she was sort of too big to jail.”
6. As NBC News reports: “Most perplexing, Stein and Baraka said little about economic inequality and campaign finance, the two pillars of Sanders’ message. In a 90-minute town hall, she also did not make more than passing references to financial reform, labor rights, LGBT rights, abortion rights, health care, or immigration reform.”
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