Green Party candidate Jill Stein and her running mate Ajamu Baraka. Photo from Wikimedia CommonsAaron Stuber - Contributor abstuber@uab.edu
With one of the most divisive presidential elections about to commence, many voters are looking for third party options that do not include the human robot, Hillary Clinton, and the billionaire who paid to roll in Cheetos dust, Donald Trump.
After the cut of Bernie Sanders from the Democratic ticket, one third party candidate who has picked up some of the bloodlust from his defeat is the Green Party’s Jill Stein. Stein has shown keen interest in the Sanders campaign, and has even invited him to run on the Green ticket; however, Sanders denied her request, knowing that his presence on the Green ticket would divide the vote of the Democratic Party. As such, this has left the spotlight on Jill Stein, who hopes to enchant the “Bernie or Bust” crowd with promises of carrying on Sanders’ “political revolution.”
While many feel an anti-establishment politician is going to make a difference this election cycle, it is still important to keep our options in perspective, and while Stein may be able to pick up votes from some of the more extreme Sanders voters, she is not the solution that left-leaning voters need or should feel comfortable with wanting.
Even though Stein is a Harvard-trained physician, her platform is immediately weakened by her interest in pseudoscience. To the educated voter, her stances are more than likely off-putting, especially to the scientifically literate. She has voiced the same skepticism that many anti-vaccination fanatics share, which is vaccine regulatory agencies in the U.S. should not be fully trusted. So, if any of you pre-medicine students are worried about not getting into Harvard, do not worry — you will probably be saved from the chance to learn that vaccines are “scary” (I feel the need to note here that they are not. For the love of God, do not believe everything you read on the internet). Additionally, Stein has voiced concern for the use of GMO’s and has placed it as an issue in her platform. Unfortunately for some of you, most food has been genetically modified to include disease-prevention in plants, to incorporate additional nutrition in food (see vitamin A production in rice) and allow for easier breeding and cultivation of the crop. So, while Stein uses her Harvard degree to put fear in her constituents, you should really ask yourself if she is the champion the left needs — many of whom are strong proponents of scientific literacy. If you are still in doubt, just remember it was a doctor Andrew Wakefield who published fraudulent (emphasis on: not real) data in 1998 to show a link between autism and the MMR vaccine, and he subsequently lost his license to practice medicine.
Aside from the homeopathic, pseudoscience stance Stein’s party has taken in recent years, one must also note other core issues her platform addresses. Many of the stances, ranging from free college tuition, increased minimum wage, health care as a right, rights for the LGBTQIA+ community
and a push for green energy are all platform stances that are already being undertaken by Democratic party nominee, Hillary Clinton. While it is predicted that Stein will show up on 47 state ballots, she has a long way to go before she can actually make a difference in the political sphere.
As of right now she is polling far below Clinton, Trump and even the Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson. So for those of you thinking Stein will be a viable candidate, let me just say: that would mean there is a lot of work that needs to be done in the next 60 days.
