it’s looking as if the campaign will be a success

. . . not a Success with a capital-S but pretty successful overall, nonetheless.

I think it should be clear that we did have a chance to achieve that Holy Grail of third-party politics, namely: garnering 5% of the vote (the rewards of which are millions of dollars of funding from the government and associated gravitas). The electorate was majorly in a mood for an alternative to the sorry duopoly-representing candidates. I said last winter 5% would require a perfect storm: a Biden-Trump race, irresolution of the Gaza situation, the left embracing a Jill Stein campaign as its 2024 electoral expression.

When Biden dropped out and the progressive vote split among Harris, Stein, and West, that was the end of any chance for 5%. But the small-s success of our campaign is indicated by the fact that Jill has emerged as the most significant among the alternative candidates:

https://nypost.com/2024/08/30/us-news/this-demographic-set-to-play-major-spoiler-on-election-night/

“Kamala Harris tied with Green Party candidate Jill Stein among Muslim voters”

New polling makes it clear that adherents to the Islamic faith aren’t rushing to support Kamala Harris this November. To the contrary, she’s fighting Green Party candidate Jill Stein for the lead.

Cornel West’s campaign was nothing but a disappointment. I’m afraid we learned, with close examination (which we did when he said he’d be the prospective Green Party candidate last summer) that the guy has never really fully filled that suit of his over the course of his academic-activist career. He had (another) chance to be of historic significance, but he proved again that he’s not of that caliber.

And (talk about disappointment) I know Greens who supported Kennedy. I certainly used to support him as a righteous activist. He was a hero of mine from his days as founder and early coordinator of the Waterkeeper Alliance. On the basis of his environmentalism and his potential to get 20% of the vote, some Greens saw his campaign as the main vehicle for breaking the grip of the duopoly Right Here, Right Now.

Not.

* * * *

Jill will wind up on only 37 or 38 state ballots:

https://medium.com/@stevenwelzer/anti-democratic-praxis-now-a-systemic-norm-cad46b6459d2

Shame on the anti-Democratic Party.

Jill’s campaign got onto 44 ballots in 2016 and then received the highest vote-total for a Green candidate (over a million) with the exception of high-profile Ralph Nader in 2000.

It would be interesting to see her get even more votes this year despite being on fewer ballots. She could if some of that Muslim vote holds. (It may not: Netanyahu is now under tremendous pressure, from both Israelis and from Biden-Harris, to get a cease-fire done; he may allow such for a couple of months, through the date of the American election, and then start bombing again, but even a temporary cease-fire could reduce the Muslim support for Jill Stein).