The truth is, it's over, the Political Revolution led by Bernie Sanders has lost to Hillary Clinton's campaign. Sen. Bernie Sanders is no longer in the running for president. He lost the Democratic primary, and he sadly and disappointingly endorsed Hillary Clinton for the job. According to an article by CNN, Bernie Sanders said last Tuesday, "I have come here to make it as clear as possible why I am endorsing Hillary Clinton and why she must become our next president," Sanders said at a joint rally. "Secretary Clinton has won the Democratic nomination and I congratulate her for that.” If that doesn't sound like conceding I don't know what else he has to do to or say that he lost besides suspend his campaign. So many disappointed supporters grieve the campaign's end, many are grappling with what to do next. The question is what is next for the revolution and where do most revolutionaries and activists plan on going next? According to thehill.coma recent poll asked Sanders supporters whether his endorsement of Hillary Clinton changed their opinion and found that 48 percent of respondents said they would vote for a third-party option.
It seems like most supporters are going to vote for, what I like to call, a female version of Bernie Sanders, but better. Jill Stein told US Uncut Wednesday, in the 24 hours following Sanders' endorsement of Clinton, she has seen a tenfold increase in donations to her campaign. This is because Jill Stein's platform and her beliefs are very similar to Sanders. It seems like Bernie supporters have a choice to either follow Bernie Sanders and join the lesser of two evils with a high chance of winning or do what is right and support Jill Stein who may not have a higher chance than Clinton.
When you support a candidate you should not support him or her personally, but rather support their beliefs and proposals. Bernie Sanders proposed three different ways to tackle some issues Americans face than Hillary Clinton did. Bernie Sanders called for free public college, Clinton did not. Sanders believes in a Universal health care system, which would provide health care and financial protection to all citizens, Clinton does not. Sanders supports State's right to legalize marijuana without federal intervention, Clinton does not. These are just some of the issues that made Bernie Sanders' campaign a revolution, and would benefit ALL Americans, instead of some. All of these proposals are the same ones that Jill Stein proposed, but better. So it is quite clear why Sanders supporters, including me, are not supporting Clinton but rather Jill Stein. Sanders' campaign revealed that there is widespread support for progressive policy in the United States. It doesn't seem like the Democratic Party will incorporate such ideas, and if you are a true progressive, you can be part of directing the momentum his campaign generated toward Stein's campaign and the Green Party
But, who is this Jill Stein everybody's been talking about and what does she stand for? Dr. Jill Stein is the Green Party’s 2016 candidate for President. She holds the current record for most votes ever received by a woman candidate for President of the United States in the general election. She is a mother, an organizer, physician, and pioneering environmental-health advocate. She has helped lead initiatives to fight environmental racism and injustice, to promote healthy communities, to strengthen local green economies and to revitalize democracy. She has helped win victories in campaign finance reform, racially-just redistricting, green jobs, and the cleanup of incinerators, coal plants, and toxic threats. She was a principal organizer for the Global Climate Convergence for People, Planet and Peace over Profit. As mentioned earlier, she is the presidential nominee for the Green Party, which advocates for environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice, participatory grassroots democracy, gender equality, LGBT rights and anti-racism.
Below are some popular issues and where Jill Stein stands on them:
Climate Change
On June 28, 2016, Jill Stein “said that the proposed deal with Mexico and Canada to go to 50% carbon-free electricity from 2025 is inadequate to meet the climate goals set in Paris,” according to a press release from her campaign. Stein said, "Obama's proposals are a step in the right direction but way too little. We need an emergency national mobilization similar to what our country did after Pearl Harbor at the outset of WWII." Stein proposes transitioning “to 100% clean energy for everything - not just electricity – by 2030 while creating 20 million jobs and avoiding hundreds of thousands of annual ‘excess deaths’ from air pollution.”
Healthcare
In a February 8, 2016, interview with Robert Scheer, Stein said her approach to healthcare is similar to Bernie Sanders'. She explained, "The one place we differ from Bernie on health care is by defending the Affordable Care Act, or saying that we're going to build on the Affordable Care Act, because that's the mythology that the health insurance system uses, that we can grow our way incrementally to a single-payer system. And you can't; you really have to kiss it goodbye and expand Medicare in one fell swoop, which can be done very quickly and efficiently." In a November 3, 2015, interview, Jill Stein said she would push for a Medicare-for-all system in her first 100 days if elected president. "The...thing that we will do is create health care as a human right, which is critical and also must be done in order for people to be productive and creative members of society we need to be healthy. And we’ll actually save money, not lose money, by moving to an improved Medicare-for-all, which is far simpler and saves about $400 billion a year in waste, paper pushing, and pharmaceutical and insurance company profiteering. That money can be put toward covering everyone comprehensively." On Stein's 2016 presidential campaign website, she stated she would like to "establish an improved 'Medicare For All' single-payer public health insurance program to provide everyone with quality healthcare, at huge savings."
Immigration
On Jill Stein's 2016 presidential campaign website, she calls for an end to nighttime deportation raids. She says, "Our nation of immigrants needs a just immigration system that won't allow the ruling elite to divide working people. That means halting deportations, passing the DREAM Act, and creating legal status and a path to citizenship for hard-working, law-abiding undocumented immigrants. The U.S. government shouldn’t be deporting innocent families who are fleeing violence, starvation and persecution in their home countries. Forcing them to return puts them at risk of rape, torture, and death. Many have already had family members murdered or actively threatened with murder."
On Jill Stein's 2012 presidential campaign website, she advocated for the repeal of the Secure Communities Act, the demilitarization of the border and granting legal status to immigrants living and working in the United States without documentation.
See also: Jill Stein presidential campaign, 2016/Immigration
This is primarily why I believe Jill Stein is better than Bernie Sanders. In an interview on the Fox Business Network, Jill Stein detailed her proposal for a student bailout by having the Federal Reserve cancel the (student loan) debt. She said it would be tax-free and cost less than the bank bailout. “Actually, if you count the quantitative easing for the bankers, that was an additional $4.5 trillion, which is far more than we need for student debt which is $1.3 trillion,” she said.On May 31, 2016, during an interview with Rolling Stone, Jill Stein discussed her plans to eliminate student debt. Stein said, “We are the only campaign that will cancel student debt and bail out [those with student loans] like Obama did for Wall Street. Isn't it about time we bailed out the young people? Therein is how we move forward, because that's 43 million people who don't need to be persuaded, they just need to learn that they have an option to come out and cancel their debt by voting Green. That could actually take over the election: 43 million is a winning plurality in the presidential race. This is mainly to say that the potential for our campaign can be a real positive force. Potentially even a dominating force if the generation in debt gets on to this.”
On her 2016 presidential campaign website, Stein advocates for education as a right: "Abolish student debt to free a generation of Americans from debt servitude. Guarantee tuition-free, world-class public education from preschool through university and high stakes testing and public school privatization."
Sounding like Bernie Sanders, In a interview with Steve Horn of Truth Out, Stein said, "We will provide tuition-free higher education, since it's comparable to a high school education in the 20th century - you need a higher education degree in the 21st century economy and it should be provided as a basic right."
Abortion
On June 27, 2016, after the United States Supreme Court struck down two provisions in Texas House Bill 2 that regulated abortion, Jill Stein posted the following tweet: “I applaud #SCOTUS decision to uphold a woman's right to access a safe abortion. A woman's right to choose is a non-negotiable human right.
Jill Stein has also stated that, "Real choice must include more than the choice of whether or not to have an abortion, and must begin with an informed choice about preventing unintended pregnancy. By providing all women with reproductive health care and family planning, as part of a program of health care as a human right, we can greatly reduce the need for abortion. Giving women real choices for education opportunities and good paying jobs will also reduce unintended pregnancies. Abortion is a necessary health care option, but will decline as women's choices expand upstream of unwanted pregnancy."
According to her 2012 campaign website, Stein supported expanding "women's access to the 'morning after' contraception by lifting the Obama Administration's ban."
See also: Jill Stein presidential campaign, 2016/Abortion
Gay rights
Jill Stein advocated for "marriage equality nationwide to end discrimination against same-sex couples," according to her 2012 presidential campaign website.
See also: Jill Stein presidential campaign, 2016/Gay rights
Civil liberties
On her 2016 presidential campaign website, Jill Stein calls for justice for all. Her plan includes restoring Constitutional rights, terminating unconstitutional surveillance and unwarranted spying, ending persecution of government and media whistleblowers (Like Edward Snowden), closing Guantanamo, abolishing secret kill lists and repealing indefinite detention without charge or trial.
Jill Stein has also said she would work to "immediately legalize medical use of marijuana and move to permit general legal sales under suitable regulatory framework.”
In 2012, Stein advocated for greater voting rights, including the enactment of "the full Voter's Bill of Rights guaranteeing each person's right to vote, the right to have our votes counted on hand-marked paper ballots, and the right to vote within systems that give each vote meaning.”
The fact is that all these proposals offer a progressive platform and are very much continuing an already existing revolution. If you are a true revolutionist and a true progressive you would vote for Jill Stein over any of the current presidential candidates. It was good while it lasted, my $27 went to a good cause but now its to the next movement, #JillStein. If you are not supporting Jill Stein because you believe she has no chances of winning, remember if she polls at least 15% on national polls, she will be able to be in the mainstream debates and go against Trump and Clinton, giving her an appearance nationwide and exposing her campaign to millions of people who have not heard about her. So if you think you are starting to #FeelTheJill or are #WithJill check our her campaign website and subscribe to her email updates for the latest on where the revolution is going next.
