"Green Party selects Jill Stein for presidential run" by Lisa Kocian and Evan Allen | Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent, July 15, 2012
A third-party candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 2002, Jill Stein easily won the Green Party nomination and will appear with running mate Cheri Honkala on ballots in 21 states.
Lexington physician Jill Stein was nominated for president by the Green Party of the United States at its national convention Saturday in Baltimore.
A third-party candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 2002, Stein easily won the Green Party nomination and will appear with running mate Cheri Honkala on ballots in 21 states. Green Party officials said they hope to increase that to 45 states by November.
Stein acknowledged in a phone interview that she is the underdog candidate in the presidential race, but said that her campaign will resonate with Americans who feel that the two-party system is not representing their interests.
She does have that going for her.
“I think we have underdog voters, these days,” said Stein, 62. “We have underdog citizens. The 99% is the underdog. It’s not a bad position to be in.”
She received 193.5 out of 294 delegate votes Saturday, or about 66 percent, to win the nomination. Among Stein’s competitors for the nomination was comedian Roseanne Barr, but by the time of the convention it was clear that Stein would win easily, said Scott McLarty, a media coordinator for the Green Party.
Oh, I would rather had Barr given that choice.
“Dr. Stein, first of all, is enormously intelligent, and she articulates the platform of the Green Party of the United States very well,” McLarty said in a phone interview from the convention Saturday. “The United States desperately needs another party. We need a party that represents Main Street instead of Wall Street.”
This is the first time a Green candidate has qualified for federal matching funds, said McLarty. The party first gained federal recognition in 2001.
How did they do that?
Stein supports the party’s Green New Deal, which outlines ideas to “create 25 million jobs, end unemployment, and transition the country to a green economy,” according to her website.
“The proposal also guarantees a halt to foreclosures and evictions, tuition-free public education from preschool through college, and Medicare for all, and an end to corporate domination of democracy,” according to her website....
McLarty rejected the notion that Stein could be a spoiler by siphoning votes from President Obama this November. “We are unable to take any votes away from Mr. Obama, because Mr. Obama doesn’t own any votes but his own,” said McLarty. “It’s important we break away from this two-party system.’’
Third parties are a way to rig elections, as Bev Harris once showed Howard Dean; however, left with turd candidate A and crap candidate B isn't a choice at all.
And what got cut(!!):
The Green Party's greatest effect on national politics came in 2000, when its nominee for president, consumer activist Ralph Nader, won almost 3 million votes. Nader garnered 97,488 of those in Florida, where George W. Bush defeated by Al Gore by 537 votes in the final results.
It was in my printed paper but didn't make the web? That tells you something about Ralph and the media.
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Also see: Going Green For President
