2024 Third Party and Independent Candidate General discussion

[MichaelM24]

i was fully intending on voting for claudia de la cruz but the level of intense vitriol the democrats (still!) spew against jill stein is reason enough to support her

Claudia is still a better candidate. It’s honestly better for you to just vote for the PSL candidate.

Saying this, I wish Stein’s campaign the best of luck.

The PSL has never had write-in access in Indiana, whereas lesser leftist parties, such as the SPUSA and the WWP, have. In fact, I was highly considering voting for Monica Moorehead in 2016 before I went with Stein.

I certainly would like the opportunity to support Claudia De la Cruz, and I can only hope that she attempts write-in access here so I can do so, as I do find her a better candidate than I find Stein.

[MichaelM24]

Apparently the Transhumanist Party announced their presidential ticket, led by Tom Ross.

To be entirely honest, I'm not sure if the Transhumanist Party's ran anyone before. I can't remember seeing any notable results, at least, but whoever they ran in the past may have been labeled 'independent.'

Either way, interesting, if perhaps trival, piece of news.

[MichaelM24]

Apparently the Transhumanist Party announced their presidential ticket, led by Tom Ross.

To be entirely honest, I'm not sure if the Transhumanist Party's ran anyone before. I can't remember seeing any notable results, at least, but whoever they ran in the past may have been labeled 'independent.'

Either way, interesting, if perhaps trival, piece of news.

Didn't they run Zoltan Istvan before?

He did indeed, back in 2016. According to The Green Papers, he got write-in access in two states - New York (76 votes) and Florida (19 votes).

Let's hope to God they do better with ballot/write-in access this time around.  

[MichaelM24]

I can definitely attest that Indiana belongs on that list, as our ballot access is absolutely awful. Luckily, the people I voted for in 2016 and 2020 were certified write-ins, but it would be great to vote for someone actually on the ballot while living here.

Libertarians have long had ballot access, and do pretty well for themselves. On the presidential level, Libertarian nominees' Michael Badnarik (2004) and Bob Barr (2008) had their best result, percentage-wise, here. Naturally, Donald Rainwater impressed everyone in the 2020 Gubernatorial, getting 11.4%. Hell, in the 2022 Secretary of State race, Jeff Maurer got 9-11% in a handful of counties in southern-central Indiana.

It'd just be great if the success the Libertarians have had here could have a chance to translate onto other parties.

[MichaelM24]

So the SPUSA's candidate Stodden has at least been semi-regularly posting videos on YouTube.

Natually, I'm not sure who I'm voting for in 2024 - won't possibly know until I know what candidates have certified write-in access or ballot access here in Indiana - so I'm keeping up with any candidate of interest.

Thought this was worth sharing, though, as Stodden was a soldier, and I think it's good to hear from the perspective of a socialist soldier, as many on the right (and I suspect plenty of Democrats) don't often consider that point-of-view.

Certainly hope that Stodden gets as much ballot access as possible, and is able to effectively get his message out there.

[MichaelM24]

Found this tweet interesting.

https://twitter.com/peterdaou/status/1747671930172326333

I've been supporting leftist unity for years now - it seems silly to me, personally, to have so many socialist parties in the USA (PSL, SPUSA, WWP, SEP, FSP, Socialist Action, Working Class Party, etc.) when a single force might be more productive.

What I found most interesting, though, isn't the unity aspect, which certainly isn't a new idea, but the fact he also listed Claudia De la Cruz (PSL's nominee) as one of the sides that should unify.

I wasn't as politically active during January of 2020, but I don't know if Gloria la Riva ever quite her message spread quite as far as Claudia De la Cruz has. I may be entirely wrong - Gloria la Riva was the nominee of the PSL three times (2008, 2016, and 2020), so she may very well have had made the rounds - but I am impressed with De la Cruz's presence during the election thus far.

[MichaelM24]

I'd never personally vote for the ASP, but I did respect the votes Carroll was able to get in 2020, and I wish Sonski the best with ballot and write-in access.

[MichaelM24]

Do we have any speculation at all on who RFK would pick as VP?

I only ask because a lot of states, RFK can't collect ballots until he has a running mate. Also, his website is extremely good on the ballot access section.

https://www.kennedy24.com/ballot-access

Probably Tulsi Gabbard, or Jesse Ventura, maybe someone like Dave Smith if he decides to go the libertarian route.

It's my understanding that Dave Smith endorsed Michael Rectenwald (running in the Libertarian primary), so I doubt he'd take a VP spot for an independent candidate.

[MichaelM24]

The undemocratic nature of the Democratic Party is always a delight to see, exactly when they beg me for my votes. 

[MichaelM24]

Apparently he also made Hawaii's ballot (as per his ballot access page on his website), which must have just happened.

I know he's likely to be on the ballot in both Georgia (and now Arizona), so that's a total of five states (with New Hampshire and Utah already accounted for).

Hoping that he picks up ballot access - I'm no supporter of his, but it'd be nice to see him make at least 35 ballots.

[MichaelM24]

Joseph Kishore is the nominee of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP).

https://twitter.com/jkishore/status/1762604781737037957

He was also their nominee in 2020 - as far as I can tell, he had ballot access in Colorado, and got a couple hundred write-in votes in California. Hopefully his ballot access will be marginally better this time around.

[MichaelM24]

I'm far from a Libertarian, but I'll say this - I thought that Chase Oliver acquitted himself quite well in the Free and Equal debate some days ago. I was impressed.

[MichaelM24]

Claudia de la Cruz (PSL) wins P&F primary in CA, beating Cornell West 45-40%. That's a major blow to his ballot access efforts.

It's a non-binding primary, though - while I certainly hope that De la Cruz is their nominee, I believe that the choice is really up to the state committee. If they think that West could bring more people out than De la Cruz, they may well go that way.

[MichaelM24]

Dems are obsessed with stopping 3rd parties which is why less people buy their "democracy" stuff. I've never seen any other political party feel entitled to people's votes.

Their obsessed with not letting Trump get elected (which third parties will do) so our democracy doesn't have the possibility of ending. Such terrible people!

With all due respect, it's this anti-democratic point-of-view that drives me up the wall. Yes, if you are supporting a party that is actively trying to force third parties and independents off the ballots, as to restrict the options of voters, then yes, you are supporting terrible people.

Naturally, no one is telling you that you have to vote third party/independent. Vote for Biden if he's who you want to vote for.

But for those of us who want to vote for Claudia De la Cruz, or Michael Wood, or RFK Jr., or Bill Stodden, or Cornel West, or Rachele Fruit, or the eventual Libertarian or Green nominee, we're beholden to the options that the Democrats and Republicans begrudingly allow us.

I didn't vote Biden in 2020, and I sure as hell have no intention on supporting an anti-democratic party (which, if you're honest, is what the Democratic and Republican parties are). I know good people are supporting Biden, but if your idea is to force a two-way race between Trump and Biden, you're certainly not someone I see as an ally.

And if those are my only options, I won't vote in the presidential race whatsoever.

[MichaelM24]

According to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News, Randall Terry (who some of us may remember ran back in 2012, getting okay results in some areas of West Virginia and Kentucky) is one of three people running for the Constitution Party's nomination.

The other two are Jim Harvey and Joel Skousen.

I don't know Harvey or Skousen, but Terry might not be a bad candidate for them. Certainly, I doubt he could be worse than Blankenship was, though I doubt he'd be able to do as well as Darrell Castle did back in 2016.

[MichaelM24]

According to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News, Randall Terry (who some of us may remember ran back in 2012, getting okay results in some areas of West Virginia and Kentucky) is one of three people running for the Constitution Party's nomination.

The other two are Jim Harvey and Joel Skousen.

I don't know Harvey or Skousen, but Terry might not be a bad candidate for them. Certainly, I doubt he could be worse than Blankenship was, though I doubt he'd be able to do as well as Darrell Castle did back in 2016.

He wasn't in West Virginia and Kentucky, he got his best win in Oklahoma.

I was talking about the general election (where he was on the ballot in Nebraska, West Virginia, and Kentucky), not the Democratic primary.

[MichaelM24]

The Libertarian Convention is a month from now. Anyone want to make a guess who's gonna come out on top?

My gut says Chase Oliver, Lars Mapstead, or Joshua Smith (can't narrow it down past that).

Honestly though, it's a crapshoot in my view. I'm not a Libertarian, nor do I know any active Libertarians, so I have absolutely no idea who party members are potentially excited about.

[MichaelM24]

As a Hoosier, Indiana's close-to-impossible for most people (Ralph Nader has never been on our ballot), but if anyone could do it, Kennedy could. That said, I'm not sure it's worth it, as this state would likely give more votes to the Libertarian than to RKF.

[MichaelM24]

I apologize for the double-post.

Just saw that Randall Terry was nominated by the Constitution Party. Not surprised they went with him over the other choices.

Blankenship's 2020 run was pretty pitiful, but Darrell Castle did quite well in 2016. I don't care for Terry, but I wish him the best in getting his campaign's message out.

[MichaelM24]

There's also the problem that it feeds into the whole "spolier" bs.