Here in Philadelphia, it’s beginning to feel a bit like 2000, when Ralph Nader’s candidacy helped put George W. Bush in the White House. Bernie Sanders wants HIS supporters to get over their disappointment, and back Hillary Clinton. Talk to the Sanders faithful, though, and it’s clear that many of them have other plans.
Which brings us to Jill Stein, who’s run unsuccessfully for Massachusetts governor and Secretary of State. This year, Stein is running for president in the Green party. And on Tuesday, she crashed the DNC with a Fox Business crew, touting herself as the principled choice for Sanders loyalists.
“Much of the press is coming out with a sanitized story of what’s going on inside the convention, as well as what’s going on outside,” she said.
I asked Stein if she’s concerned her campaign could help put Donald Trump in the White House. Short answer? She isn’t. “We are seeing a rise in right wing extremism, not just Donald Trump and not just in the united states—it’s in Europe. What is driving this? It’s policies like NAFTA, globalization, the dominance of the banks,” she said. “Who gave us those policies? The Clintons gave us those policies!
The response to Stein’s gate-crashing was raucous and mostly positive: an adoring throng surrounded her and chanted “Bernie or Jill! Bernie or Jill!” But not everyone who saw it was pleased with Stein’s cameo.
A Bernie supporter said, “She is all about herself. It’s rude! It’s the rudest thing I’ve ever seen in my life! Who DOES this?”
Could a serial candidate from Massachusetts REALLY change the course of American political history? A recent NBC News poll shows Donald Trump leading Hillary Clinton nationwide, 41 to 39 percent, with Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and his running mate Bill Weld at 10 percent and Stein at 5 percent. But that’s based on polling before the DNC, which may actually have stoked pro-Sanders resentment.
