With Republicans increasingly nervous about the role Libertarians could play in swing states this November, Democrats are now looking closely to their left and the potential of the Green Party getting a big boost from Bernie Sanders supporters.
“We are here in the event that they feel like they don’t have a place to go,” said Dr. Jill Stein, the likely 2016 Green Party presidential nominee. “They should know that there’s a plan B here to continue to fight that revolution.”
Stein, who was also the Green Party’s 2012 nominee, said she and Sanders are a kindred revolutionary, battling the political establishment. She points out that billionaire Republican Donald Trump, with constant attacks on minorities and women, will not be an attractive choice for the young progressives.
Yesterday she tweeted a direct attack on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton:
Don't forget, @BernieSanders supporters signed up for a political revolution. Hillary is the antithesis of the revolution. #PrimaryDay
— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) June 7, 2016
Stein said in an interview today that “if Bernie endorses Hillary, I urge Bernie’s supporters not to throw in the towel.”
Her platform includes the elimination of student debt, climate change legislation, and paid reparations to the descendants of slaves.
Green Party officials say they expect to be on the ballot in 47 states. The other three, North Carolina, Indiana and Oklahoma, could be litigated due to their “onerous petition requirements.”
The Clinton team is nervous about where up to half of the Sanders support may go in November. A recent poll showed Stein polling around 4 percent nationally, but the key will be how well she performs in battleground states like Ohio and Florida.