Dr. Cornel West has switched from the People’s Party to the Green Party to now being an independent and is running on one of the more progressive platforms. Who is he?
Background
Dr. Cornel West is a prominent philosopher and activist. He’s a vocal advocate for social justice and addressing issues of race and democracy. West is known for his speaking skills and is now trying to bring his career to the White House with an independent run for President of the United States.
On the issues
Economy
Cornel West has proposed a bold and progressive economic policy. [His platform] includes a national minimum wage of $27, with special considerations for specific geographies where $27/hour would not be a family-sustaining wage. He also calls for Universal Basic Income (UBI), along with Medicare for all, and funding for more social programs.
National Security
Dr. West, who opposed United States involvement in past wars, has an opinion on the Invasion of Ukraine that differs from other candidates. He believes it is “a criminal invasion, provoked by the expansion of NATO, which is an instrument of US global power,” and he has described the war as a “proxy war between the American Empire and the Russian Federation.” In regards to the Israel-Palestine conflict, he has been a vocal supporter of Palestine and has accused Israel of a “genocidal attack” on Gaza.
Abortion
In the wake of the overturning of Roe vs Wade, West joined in protest to restore abortion rights and has called to codify abortion rights as a constitutional mandate.
Political polarization
A frequent critic of both major parties, West has called former President Donald Trump a “neo-fascist.” He hopes to build a broad progressive coalition and restore trust in the government with ranked-choice voting, along with term limits for Congress and the Supreme Court.
How He Can Win
It’s been an uphill campaign for Cornel West, considering he has switched parties three times, but the best strategy for him is to put all of his resources in one state, especially after he left the Green Party and now has minimal ballot access and limited campaign funds. He will also have to compete with his former campaign advisor, Dr. Jill Stein, as she launched a bid of her own on the Green Party line, and to do well, he needs to win the support of all the leftist voters critical of Democratic President Joe Biden.
Nathan S. is a student writer with an interest in politics. He frequently writes on the activities of 2024 presidential candidates in all parties. Readers of Independent Political Report can read more on his Substack.
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@Steven For yet more on Texas’ ballot access laws for both third parties and individual candidates, see the latest legal filings on a lawsuit against the state by a collection of plaintiffs. (Documents via BAN) https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2023/11/submission-a-look-at-independent-presidential-candidate-cornel-west/#comment-2738747
While I’ve followed Professor Cornel West’s views as they pertain to current events and the way forward for US democracy, I have paid less attention to the steps of his third party candidacy. This article really gave me the overview I needed to understand the practical aspects of his campaign.
@Steven, basically, we’re not there right now, and for Bob Jr. as well as Cornel. For instance, here in Texas, you CANNOT start the process until after the primary election date, and then there’s a short window after that.
Not a huge submission; a few pull quotes from his platform, I’d venture.
From a couple of months ago, with link to his platform, to a Sactown Mag profile of him in 2016 and discussions on his back taxes and back child support, I offer this: https://socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2023/10/a-few-more-thoughts-on-cornel-west.html
How active are the West campaign’s petitioning efforts right now? All of the above is moot if people can’t vote for him. For the life of me I don’t understand the move away from the Green Party race, which at least had a good base of achieved ballot access already.