Democrats are increasingly alarmed by the potential impact of Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the 2024 presidential race, fearing a repeat of the 2016 election where she was widely accused of siphoning votes away from Hillary Clinton in key battleground states. With the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump tightening, Democrats are launching aggressive efforts to minimize the impact of third-party candidates like Stein, hoping to avoid another spoiler scenario.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has already aired its first-ever attack ad focused on Stein, a significant shift in strategy. The ad accuses Stein of helping Trump win in 2016 by drawing away crucial liberal votes. Many Democrats blame her presence on the ballot in states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania—states Trump narrowly won—for their loss that year.
Why is nobody talking about the fact that Jill Stein holds stocks in defense companies like Raytheon in the six figures that have made billions from the wars in Gaza and Ukraine?
The idea that Jill Stein is anti-war is a big lie. Pass it on. https://t.co/5e0KfyVGHI
— Sohali Vaddula (@SohaliV) October 17, 2024
Polling suggests that Stein is currently attracting only about 1% of the vote, but even that small margin could be decisive in a race that is expected to be as close as 2020’s. Democratic strategists fear that voters frustrated with Harris’s policies, particularly on climate change, may gravitate toward Stein, a staunch advocate for stronger environmental policies. They argue that these voters risk helping Trump secure another term.
To prevent Stein from having a repeat performance, the DNC and Democratic state leaders have filed lawsuits to block her from appearing on ballots in some critical swing states. This has already succeeded in keeping her off the ballot in Nevada, where Trump currently leads Harris in some polls. These legal efforts are part of a broader strategy to discredit Stein and discourage progressive voters from supporting her campaign.
Who DOES NOT support Jill Stein:
• Bernie Sanders
• AOC
• Ilhan Omar
• Rashida TlaibWho DOES support Jill Stein:
• David Duke
— Based Illinoisan 🇺🇸🇬🇷 (@BasedIllinoisan) October 16, 2024
Green Party leaders, however, are fighting back against what they see as a smear campaign. They argue that the Democratic Party is more focused on attacking third-party candidates than on addressing the reasons why some voters are disillusioned with the two-party system. Cassandra Lems, co-chair of the Green Party, stated that Democrats assume Stein voters would automatically back Harris if Stein were not in the race, a notion she dismisses as unrealistic.
This tension between Democrats and the Green Party reflects a broader struggle within the left over how best to address the climate crisis and other progressive priorities. While Harris has adopted more ambitious climate policies than previous Democratic candidates, Stein's platform calls for a more radical transformation, including ending all fossil fuel extraction and transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2030. Stein has long argued that both major parties are beholden to corporate interests, particularly in the fossil fuel industry, and that only a candidate like her can offer the bold solutions necessary to combat climate change.
The stakes for Democrats in 2024 are exceptionally high. Trump remains a formidable opponent, and many Democrats are haunted by the narrow margins of victory that handed him the presidency in 2016. They are determined to avoid a repeat of that year, when Stein’s candidacy was seen as a contributing factor in tipping key states toward Trump. In 2016, Stein received over 1% of the vote in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—states that Trump won by less than 1%.
Stein’s defenders argue that the real issue is not her candidacy but the Democrats’ failure to win over more voters. They point out that many potential voters are disillusioned with both major parties, and that the solution to avoiding another spoiler scenario is not to attack third-party candidates, but to implement electoral reforms like ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to rank candidates by preference without fear of wasting their vote.
What part of election rigging is this not covered under? The democrats even tried to keep Trump off the ballots in some states and that never worked out well for them and now they are pulling this same underhanded tactic on one of their own!Look at whats the democrats have done to RFK trying to keep him off the ballots! They defiantly can’t claim to be the party of democracy anymore but they will!!!