The fight for ballot access IS the battle for democracy. The ruling parties actively restrict ballot access, in violation of the Constitution.
#CornelWest2024 was already planning to gain ballot access in 30+ states where the Green Party is NOT on the ballot.
🇺🇸 BALLOT ACCESS
Now that @CornelWest is running as an Independent, we will also work to get on the ballot in the fewer than 20 states where the Green Party is on the ballot line. It is a central focus of our campaign, to give voters a better option than the duopoly.
🇺🇸 BALLOT ACCESS
Every state has different rules, but the idea is the same: Gather and submit (in 2024) a certain number of valid signatures = get on the ballot.
It is designed by the ruling parties to be onerous. The idea is to block any opposition, which is anti-democratic.
🇺🇸 BALLOT ACCESS
Bottom line: Our goal is to get on the ballot in ALL STATES.
I am vehemently opposed to Donald Trump, a bigot, sexist, and criminal. That said, I want to challenge the liberal assumption that Biden is vastly superior. In fact, there are metrics by which Biden is objectively worse than Trump.
COVID CATASTROPHE
Biden has presided over far more Covid deaths than Trump. He declared 'independence' from the pandemic a few months after taking office and never looked back, methodically dismantling the Covid safety net. By his own Covid standards, he shouldn't be president.
ABUSE OF MIGRANTS
Biden has been downright Trumpian on immigration. Obama and Biden built the child cages that Trump used. As POTUS, Biden continued Trump and Miller's heinous policies, and even exceed their cruelty, particularly against Haitian migrants.
Looking objectively at the Dem field, @RobertKennedyJr is a MUCH better general election candidate than Biden.
#RFKJr has high net favorables, independent and cross-party appeal, and would trounce any Republican.
The establishment claim that Biden is more electable is absurd.
Now let's follow up with some facts from today's NYT:
"Polling conducted in May found that only 22 percent of Latino voters and 33 percent of Black voters were aware of 'any specific thing' Mr. Biden had done in office to improve their lives."
I am part of the largest voting bloc in America: Independents.
I am anti-establishment and anti-duopoly.
I believe Americans deserve better than this corrupt, oppressive 2-party system.
Democracy means MORE choices, not fewer. So I will occasionally help a progressive Democrat whose platform aligns with my values and who challenges establishment hegemony.
But my primary focus is building an alternative to the oligarch-funded, corporatist system we suffer under.
I've worked on three presidential campaigns.
In 2004 I was part of John Kerry's winning primary team. We missed the White House by 2% in Ohio.
I worked for Hillary Clinton in 2008. Obama won that primary, and the presidency.