The Contentious Role of Third-Party Candidates
Just weeks before the United States presidential election on Nov. 5, 2024, all eyes are on a handful of swing states where the race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris remains tight.
In those states—including , , , and —disaffected progressives may end up choosing third-party candidates such as and . The Biden–Harris administration’s unequivocal of Israel’s genocide in Gaza is among the main reasons why some voters feel alienated from Democrats. But issues, such as the high cost of living and low wages, are also central concerns.
Democratic Party stalwarts are blaming and more than Harris, pointing to Trump as an existential threat to democracy. Trump’s supporters, understanding this, have fueled Stein’s and West’s candidacies with money and ballot access.
Rosa Alicia Clemente, Ph.D., an organizer, independent journalist, and scholar-activist, was the 2008 vice presidential candidate for the Green Party. She spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about the role of third-party candidates in the election.
Sonali Kolhatkar
joined YES! in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of YES! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Ƶ Institute’s Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice (2023) and Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence (2005). Her forthcoming book is called Talking About Abolition (Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women’s Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master’s in Astronomy from the University of Hawai’i, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on “My Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host” in her 2014 of the same name.
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