The Green Party

On the Democratic side of the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton is basically the nominee (short of a complete reversal in California that somehow wins Sanders all of its delegates and Clinton's super delegates). Clinton is one of the most unpopular Democratic frontrunner on decades, and this is before any kind of confrontation with the Republicans. Her establishment-friendly side is attacked by Sanders' supporters who have effectively demonized Clinton with her Wall Street ties and pro-intervention voting history. As Clinton's reputation and popular appeal continues to drop with each development on the campaign trail, many Democrats and left-leaning independents are looking towards alternatives. As she gears up to face Trump in the main election, her own party has a lot of things to consider themselves.

While there seems to be some strange crossover voters from Sanders to Trump, the larger trend of Sanders' voters is not quite certain yet because the race has not ended. Regardless, striking numbers are revealing themselves with nearly a quarter of Sanders's supporters vowing to never vote for Hillary. While the battle in the Democratic Party is not as big as it is within the Republican party, shifts are occurring. There are clear generational gaps in the party and positions about trade, Wall Street, American deployment, healthcare, and education vary greatly between older Democrats who tend to support Clinton and younger ones who tend to be Sanders' supporters. With independents and Sanders' supporters lost, this is the gap for another rise in the Green Party.

The Green Party was founded in 1984 with a complete focus on equality and protection of the environment. Currently they have 36 states and Washington DC granting them ballot access and are fighting for many more. In 2000, Ralph Nader was the Green Party candidate who won 2.54% of the vote and was criticized for taking enough votes from Gore in Florida to give it to Bush. The current candidate, Jill Stein, swept her party's primaries and is moving to get more name recognition.

Their Platform

Social

The Green Party runs on its Four Pillars, or 10 Key Values. These include grassroots democracy, social justice, ecological wisdom, non-violence, decentralization, community based economics, feminism, respect for diversity, global responsibility, and sustainability. Their largest social issue is the driving force behind their movement, that is, the environment. The Green Party aims to promote ecological conservation and more earth-friendly policies. Additionally, the Green Party advocates for the handing of power down to more local and regional bodies with more democracy and less elitism from the wealthy. Their social justice value aims to use the government to fight all forms of racism, ageism, sexism, and disability barriers in employment and everyday life.

Economic

Their budget revolves around a drastic restructuring towards a more community and social oriented role. By slashing the budget of the military by 50% and raising taxes on the wealthy, the Green Party hopes to be able to diver these funds into a "Green New Deal" and paying for universal health care and freer education. This "Green New Deal" is promoted as a way to create 20 million jobs and move the United States towards completely renewable energy. The Green Party also calls for a universal income, tax incentives to companies that redistribute wealth, and attempt to cut out all loopholes for the rich in our current tax code. More funding would also go to making the internet a tax-payer utility, rebuilding infrastructure, and fully opposes any and all attempts to privatize social security.

Foreign Policy

The Green Party has a very idealistic bent towards foreign policy that would support human rights and the environment around the world. The Party vows to fight all corporate influence and maintain deals and negotiations that include strong provisions for the environment and human rights. Their largest policy change would be regarding the military. While supporting self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians while also helping social justice in lesser developed countries, the Green Party takes a few more radical stances on other issues. These include the revocation of the United States' veto power in the UN and the complete defunding of all nuclear weapons based research and maintenance while also pursing a world wide disarmament treaty.

With the 2016 election gearing up, Jill Stein and the Green Party will have a much harder time than the Libertarians in overcoming the perceived idealism of their entire platform. More specifics will have to be released in order for them to gain any traction amongst voters who still view liberal third parties as deadly to the left-leaning Democratic party. It is up to Stein to take advantage of political disunity to make the case for her party.

Works Cited

The Clinton Campaign Thinks Donald Trump Is Helping Hillary. N.d. Business Insider. By Hunter Walker. Web. 06 May 2016.

Foran, Clare. "The 'Never Clinton' Campaign." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 5 May 2016. Web. 06 May 2016.

"Four Pillars - 10 Key Values." Www.gp.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2016.

Glum, Julia. "A Third-Party Candidate To Stop Trump? Ben Sasse Demands 'Adult' Challenger To Republican Nominee And Hillary Clinton." International Business Times. IBT Media, 05 May 2016. Web. 06 May 2016.

"Green Party on Foreign Policy." Green Party on Foreign Policy. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2016.

Green Party US. N.d. Www.gp.org. Web. 06 May 2016.

"History." Www.gp.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2016.

Holthaus, Eric. "Can the Green Party Make a Comeback in 2016? | VICE | United States." VICE. Vice Media, 9 Feb. 2015. Web. 06 May 2016.

Jill Stein's Platform More Viable than Bernie's. N.d. - American Herald Tribune. By David Swanson. Web. 06 May 2016.

"Sanders Voters Can Turn to Stein." Www.gp.org. N.p., 4 May 2016. Web. 06 May 2016.