Green Party Survives Dems’ Ballot Challenge In Battleground State – Kamala Shudders

For a party that’s constantly crowing about the need to save Our Democracy, the Democrats have been working awfully hard to limit Americans’ choices in November.  Happily, Democrats’ drive to exclude the Green Party from the ballot in the battleground state of Nevada was defeated on Monday — sending shudders through Democrats who blame Green presidential candidate Jill Stein for enabling Donald Trump’s 2016 victory. 

Stein, who’s back at it in 2024, wasn’t even on the Nevada ballot when Trump upset Hillary Clinton that year. However, Democrats point to Stein’s share in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan — which was larger than the margin by which Clinton lost those pivotal Rust Belt states. 

The Democrats’ challenge to the Green Party’s ballot-access petition questioned the validity of the signatures the Greens had collected. Carson County District Court Judge Kristin Luis shot the challenge down, saying “The Democratic Party has not met its burden of demonstrating that the petition is clearly invalid because it has not produced sufficient evidence to show that the petition has less than the required number of valid signatures in any petition district.” Stein took to social media to celebrate, saying, “We are excited to say that the ruling has been made in our favor and we will offer an anti-genocide, pro-worker, climate action choice for Silver State voters!” 

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein at a pro-Palestinian rally (Kelly Merrill via Haaretz)

All across the country, the Democratic Party has been using lawfare to impede third-party and independent candidates seeking a presence on general election ballots. Their motive: to banish candidates who might siphon voters away from Kamala Harris and down-ballot Democrats.

This will be the Green Party’s first appearance on the Silver State’s ballot since 2008. In 2020, Biden won Nevada by 2.4%. In 2016, Clinton took it by the same margin. The three most recent Nevada polls give a mixed picture of the 2024 contest: 

Trafalgar Group (Aug 6-8): Trump +3
Telegraph/Redfield & Wilson (July 31-August 3): Tied at 40%
Public Opinion Strategies/Competitiveness Coalition (July 23-29): Trump +1

A July Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll gauged the Nevada race as both a head-to-head and as a five-way race with independent and third-party candidates. In the straight Trump v Harris survey, Harris led Nevada by 2%. With Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Stein and Libertarian Chase Oliver on the menu, the result was a 43-43 tie. 

Noticing a serious uptick in anti-Jill Stein posts and comments from the Kamala crowd now that it’s been reported that Dr. Stein is likely to choose a Palestinian American as a running mate. They’re scared.

Good.

— Prof Zenkus (@anthonyzenkus) August 13, 2024

The substitution of Harris for Biden has taken some wind out of the sails of those “other” candidates, who gave an outlet to so-called “double-hater” voters who can’t stand either Trump or Biden. Whatever her ideological and intellectual shortcomings, Harris grants the wish of voters who were desperate for something, anything different than a 2020 rematch. 

Looking for a spark, Stein is expected to name a running mate meant to channel the anger many voters feel about the Biden-Harris administration’s military and diplomatic backing of the State of Israel throughout its devastating, 10-month military campaign and blockade of Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion of Israel. 

Jill Stein’s team approached me to run as her vice-presidential candidate, & I am seriously considering it. The Harris team is demanding our votes to “save our democracy” but has been oblivious to the fact that supporting a #genocide poses the most significant threat to it 🧵

— Noura Erakat (@4noura) August 10, 2024

Those potential Green vice presidential candidates include human rights lawyer and Rutgers professor Noura Erakat, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee executive director Abed Ayoub, Dearborn, Michigan mayor Abdullah Hammoud, and political activist and comedian Amer Zahr. 

Zahr, who lives in Dearborn, said that he was initially open to voting for Vice President Kamala Harris but lost enthusiasm after she “disrespectfully” shut down protesters who interrupted her at a Detroit campaign rally, and after an aide said that she would not support an arms embargo against Israel. – The New Republic

When pro-Gaza ceasefire protestors started chanting at the Detroit rally, Harris dusted off her trusty “I’m speaking” rhetorical device, eliciting a roar from the crowd. For many anti-war Americans, however, it came across as an empty gimmick evidencing a warped set of priorities. “Kamala’s message is loud and clear: It’s time to fall in line and shut up about genocide,” tweeted Stein. “But we will not be silenced.”  

“If you want Donald Trump to win then say that , otherwise I’m speaking”

Blue MAGA in action .. let’s not talk about my complicity in genocide because Orange Man Bad!

It’s crazy but these people tell themselves they are good people pic.twitter.com/GVAiq7mLXX

— Casey Wright 🥖🎪 (@503i7) August 8, 2024

Speaking of Michigan, the Green Party has already secured its ballot access in that swing state, and the choice of a running mate who’s been a leader of Gaza ceasefire efforts will likely have its largest impact there. Michigan has one of the largest Muslim populations in America, and more than 100,000 Michigan Democrats voted “uncommitted” in the February primary to express their outrage over the Biden-Harris administration’s largely blank-check backing of Israel.