Green Party’s Stein woos Bernie Busts
PHILADELPHIA — Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein left the Democratic National Convention hoping to continue peeling off Bernie Sanders supporters fed up over the party’s attempts to tip the scale in favor of Hillary Clinton.
“If Donald Trump wins, Hillary Clinton deserves the blame because she knocked out Bernie Sanders through backstabbing & sabotage,” Stein tweeted yesterday.
Stein also pushed a fundraising campaign, similar to Sanders’ average campaign donation of $27, called “$29 for Stein.”
Stein joined with Sanders delegates Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center to protest Clinton’s nomination.
A strong third-party showing by Stein would take away votes from Clinton, who has spent much of the DNC trying to appeal to progressives. But many Sanders supporters detest Clinton’s choice of running mate, Virginia U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, and don’t believe Clinton’s claim that she herself is a progressive.
Stein’s campaign manager also sent out emails to supporters asking them to join the JillNotHill team.
Stein is not the only third-party challenger trying to siphon votes away from Clinton and Donald Trump.
Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson — and his running mate, former Bay State Gov. Bill Weld — are hoping to clear the 15 percent poll threshold needed to qualify for presidential debates. The ticket is averaging about 7 percent in the polls.