Why The Green Party's Leading Candidate, Howie Hawkins, is America's Most Interesting Unknown Option.
2020 Green Party Presidential Candidate, Howie Hawkins.
It's not a secret that Bernie Sanders' suspension of his presidential campaign has effectively handed former Vice President Joe Biden the 2020 Democratic Nomination. But does America have another option?
Biden—who would be the oldest president elected should he defeat Donald Trump in the fall—is challenged with the task of appeasing voters who might break with the DNC establishment in the general election. As in 2016, many dissatisfied supporters of Senator Sanders are now flocking to campaigns for lesser-known presidential candidates who are more aligned with their values.
While Biden has been at the political epicenter of generational change in the past, the truth is that many Americans want a fresh face in the White House. Someone who has genuinely felt their pain. Someone who sees the things they see. Someone who actually knows what it is like living paycheck to paycheck. Someone who doesn’t have several women accusing them of sexual harassment. Someone who didn’t vote for the Iraq War, a deadly conflict that cost the United States nearly $1 trillion over eight years. Or someone who didn’t work with Republicans to cut Social Security benefits for elderly Americans.
Many are under the impression that they have to vote for Biden in November in order to defeat President Donald Trump. But progressives who are heavily disappointed in the selection of Joe Biden as the Democratic Nominee do not have to acquiesce in supporting him as a lesser of two evils.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Howie Hawkins.
Hawkins—a Green Party member who has played leading roles in the anti-war, anti-nuclear, and environmental movements since the 1960s—may come off as a fringe political figure who has virtually no chance of winning the upcoming election. Yet, as the first candidate to campaign for a Green New Deal in 2010 while running for Governor of New York, Hawkins has an astounding record of fighting wealth inequality, promoting racial and environmental justice, and standing up to the corporate-sponsored two-party system. It’s quite a shame that he hasn’t garnered much widespread attention. Unfortunately, his association with the "S" movement has more likely than not spoiled his political potential.
Yes, I mean that dirty word: Socialism.
However, if you liked what Senator Sanders had to say, I suggest you read what Howie wants to do as president. His platform includes:
1. Establishing a single-payer-healthcare system.
2. Implementing an Economic Bill of Rights (which includes universal rent control, free public higher education, and universal pre-K and childcare).
3. Transitioning the United States into a 100% clean energy system by 2030.
To learn more about Howie Hawkin's platform, click here.
While I do agree that some proposals of the Green Party are too radical and idealistic, Sanders supporters must come to the realization that voting for the lesser of two evils in November will not advance their cause. In fact, they shouldn’t allow their agenda to be silenced. At a time when our country is facing massive income inequality, environmental destruction, and severe economic hardship, progressives must raise their voices. They must raise their voices respectfully, of course, but raise their voices nonetheless.
The 8 million people who voted for Bernie Sanders in this years’ presidential primaries should not bow down to a political candidate they know is mentally unfit to serve.
From Walter Mondale, to Michael Dukakis; from Al Gore to John Kerry; and from Hillary Clinton to Joe Biden, the Democratic Party loses the presidential election when they nominate “safe and electable” candidates. Don’t get me wrong: I have tremendous respect for all of the names mentioned, and I do acknowledge there were several political factors in play that contributed to their losses. But let me ask, what makes a candidate “electable” anyway? What right does the DNC establishment have to determine if a candidate meets the threshold of “electability”?
You might think to yourself, “But Biden won the primaries fair and square?” But tell me: who comes fifth in New Hampshire, but wins Maine in a matter of three weeks? How can a candidate who literally obliterated his opponents in the Nevada caucuses—a state in which Hispanics and Latinos comprise nearly 30% of the population—be considered “unelectable”? Can we really trust a party that awarded Hillary Clinton 19 delegates from West Virginia even though Sanders won all 55 counties in the state’s primary?
In no way is this article an endorsement of Mr. Hawkins. Instead, I urge all progressives, one way or another, to pressure Biden in accepting components of their platform. I urge Americans to really contemplate if Biden is who we need at this moment in time.
Article written by Jett James Pruitt
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