Last month Memphians and more packed the decorated room of Amurica Studios on N. Cleveland Street to catch a glimpse of a living, breathing presidential candidate.
Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential nominee, spoke to Amurica about America and more specifically, how to bring “social movements into the political battle.†She then took questions from the multigenerational crowd.
Winston Belisle, 63, said that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was actually politically “too far right†for his liking with “too many corporate interests.â€
“I think we need a third party,†Belisle said after the rally. “I’m not satisfied with what we got. I’ve been a Democrat all my life; then when Bernie stepped down and started rooting for her, it let the air out of the balloon.â€
Memphian Trenton Brown, 23, also began researching Jill Stein after Bernie Sanders dropped his presidential bid.
“I’m voting for Jill this election,†Brown said. “I just got tired of the established candidates—Republicans and Democrats, so I decided to vote for a third party that can actually offer a solution.â€
Dr. Jill Stein and Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson are the two major third-party candidates in the current election that younger voters are gravitating towards as they shun “the two major political parties on a scale not seen since Ross Perot’s third party bid for the presidency in 1992,†according to The New York Times. Surveys by Pew Research Center show that half of the millennials polled describe themselves as political independents, but vote heavily Democratic and for liberal policies on many social and political issues.
While both the 2016 Green Party and Libertarian Party candidates align on issues like abortion being a woman’s unrestricted right, the legalization of marijuana, the pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens and avoiding foreign entanglements, some attendees at October’s Stein rally described the two’s politics as “day and night.†Dr. Jill Stein herself criticized Gary Johnson’s policies when questioned by The Daily Helmsman on Oct. 4.
“I think Gary is sort of coasting on this idea that he’s the alternative,†Stein said. “We’ve been trying to get Gary into a debate, and he won’t debate. He won’t actually stand up and defend his positions and where he stands. Many people fear that the Libertarians are about getting government out of the way so that corporations can just run roughshod over us.â€
Dr. Stein also said she disagrees with Johnson’s plans for income tax, climate change and student debt. While in Memphis, the Green Party nominee claimed that the Libertarian nominee has “no solution†for the “job crisis.â€
“In my mind, we have three candidates here which are sponsored by multinational corporations,†Stein said. “Gary Johnson doesn’t want to get money out of politics. He thinks that it’s just fine for corporations to buy our government. He thinks they need to wear the logo to identify where the money’s coming from, but he’s not identifying where his money is coming from. He’s got a Super PAC, which is basically how you hide the money.â€
30-year-old Walt Granecki, the vice-chair of the Libertarian Party of Shelby County, refuted some of Stein’s accusations. He said that he couldn’t speak to Johnson’s Super PAC but believes Johnson’s experience and background as a two-term governor of New Mexico speak for themselves.
“Whether Stein, Johnson, Clinton or Trump is elected in November, come January of 2018, I don’t think that the money will be out of politics,†Granecki said. “But I think there’s policies that can begin to be set in place to help us establish that. I think that we’re fighting within the rules to get as much media coverage as we can and currently, the only way to do that is to raise money.â€
According to insidegov.com, Johnson has raised significantly more money than Stein—$11.3 million to $3.53 million. He also was closer to getting on the debate stage with Clinton and Trump.
The Commission on Presidential Debates established in 2000 that for a presidential candidate to be included in the national debates, they must collect at least 15 percent of voters’ support across five national polls.
According to a Sept. 22 Washington Post/ABC News poll, conducted before the first debate, Clinton and Trump were tied at 41 percent among registered voters, with Johnson at 7 percent and Stein at 2 percent. At his peak, Johnson was polling at 11 percent according to a Sept. 13 NBC News/Survey Monkey poll.
This was despite Johnson’s “Aleppo†gaffe, when he questioned what the city of Aleppo was in an interview with MSNBC’s Mike Barnicle. However, by the time the 2016 presidential debates began, Johnson did not get to participate as third-party candidate Ross Perot was able to in 1992. Before the debates, Granecki felt it was Johnson’s “role†to debate the Republican and Democratic nominees.
“It’s hard to change the system outside of the system,†Granecki said. “We’re just trying to make real progress and pick and choose our battles.â€
Stein believed a debate specifically between Johnson and her should be the first order of business.
“We think there needs to be a debate here because people are clamoring for another political party, but they need to know what the choices are,†Stein said.
While Johnson and Stein’s platforms are separated with Johnson taking a more conservative stance and Stein taking a more liberal stance specifically on domestic and economic issues, some worry that either candidate could “split†the vote in a similar way that Ralph Nader’s Green Party presidential run did in 2000.
Nader's votes could have otherwise gone to one of the major-party candidates, but allegedly cost Al Gore the presidency.
Memphian Jaron Weidner is the secretary of the Libertarian Party of Shelby County and the co-owner of Avenue Coffee, located near the U of M campus. He is not concerned about the Libertarian candidate splitting the votes come Nov. 8.
“I’ve heard kind of an equal number of people tell me that if you vote for Gary Johnson it’s only going to help Hillary,†Weidner said. “But I’ve heard an equal number of people say it’s going to help Trump.â€
Weidner describes himself as being “socially accepting,†but that opening his own business encouraged him to become “economically minded†as well. He was drawn towards Republican candidate Rand Paul at first. Then, after Paul dropped out, Weidner decided on the Libertarian option.
“Historically, the Libertarian party pulls equally from both Democrats and Republicans,†Weidner said. “The Libertarian Party kind of coincidentally has a list of things in common with each side, and so it’s possible to definitely attract people from both of the major parties. Some of the other third parties might not have that same advantage. The Constitutional Party is kind of like a Republican Party and Green Party is kind of like a Democratic Party.â€
Kate Culver, the co-founder of the Green Party of Tennessee, believes that her party is actually a place where Republicans, Democrats and even Libertarians can “find a good home.â€
“I know a lot of people want to place the Green Party further left than the Democrats, but I don’t think that’s true,†Culver said. “I don’t think this is some linear continuum. It’s a circle. Everything is a circle, and so we have a place where some Republicans could find a good home. We have a platform where some Democrats could find a good home, or a Libertarian could find a good home. The main thing is that people who care about their children, who care about their environment, who care about justice in the world and that it’s all fair and that we respect each other—these people are going to find a good place here in the Green Party.â€
Culver said she represents the stereotype of her party as a “Birkenstock-wearing, tree hugging hippy,†but said by no means is she the majority. In the past, Culver has also worked with Libertarians.
“I won’t vote for them, but I am so happy they are there,†Culver said. “My feeling is we need a multi-party democracy. We need more voices and the lawsuits that I have undertaken with the Green Party of Tennessee against the state of Tennessee have one time been with the Constitution Party and one time been with the Libertarian party. Even parties that I have a very different political view with, we have a common ground and an understanding that more voices at the table does everybody good.â€
Granecki agreed.
“I think the Green Party and the Libertarian Party certainly do need to come together regarding ballot access in the debates instead of throwing shade at each other,†Granecki said. “I still want to be able hear that other voice and keep Republicans and Democrats honest. Getting as many voices heard as we possibly can… to [open the] rest of the public’s [eyes] up to who Jill Stein and Gary Johnson and the Green and Libertarian Party represent.â€
According to Weidner, ballot access is definitely important for third party candidates. For example, while Gary Johnson is technically on the ballot in all 50 states, he is listed as a Libertarian option on only some of them.
On others, such as Tennessee, Johnson is listed as an Independent. After the election, all the votes cast for Johnson, whether he's listed as an Independent or a Libertarian will be counted “for the party.†If the party gets five percent of the popular vote, they will receive federal funding for the 2020 campaign. In Tennessee, where Johnson is listed as an Independent, votes will still count towards the party’s five percent of the national popular vote and the candidate’s 2016 presidency.
“In Tennessee, the current law says that Republicans and Democrats need 25 signatures of voters—just 25 people to sign petition so they can be on the ballot,†Weidner said. “Any third party needs 33,844 signatures of valid Tennessee voters just to be on the ballot with their party name. So that’s why you don’t see other parties in [political] office or the House of Representatives.â€
Granecki said these numbers are “very unfair,†and Culver said she doesn’t believe the presidential election is “not a rigged election.â€
“In the past, I would have never said my candidate could win,†Culver said. “I’ve been working in Green Party politics for 16 years, and it’s always been about building the party—seeing the long-term goal. But I never deluded myself [into thinking] that my candidate could win. This year, I’m not going to predict anything, but I’m also not going to hold back the tide of the crazy change that’s upon us. Who knows? I have been surprised every time I turned around in this election cycle.â€
Weidner hopes that next Tuesday, voters actually consider the party they choose to vote for.
“I hope that it’s not just a vote out of spite for the other two,†he said.
