Jill Stein’s presidential run means nothing but trouble, according to most pundits and politicos. It’s a “fairy tale campaign,” goes the popular media narrative—an annoying speed bump in Hillary’s White House coronation, or perhaps a Ralph Nader-like spoiler that could spell President Trump.
Getting slapped with an arrest warrant for tagging an oil company’s equipment is possibly the most punk-rock move for a presidential candidate since Eugene Debs campaigned from prison a century ago—though not likely one to win many votes. (Can you imagine Hillary going all Banksy on Trump Tower?) But making calculated, low-risk decisions designed to appeal to the largest number of people in order to win the election isn’t the the Stein-Baraka camp’s goal.
“Well, that’s why we’re out here,” Stein responded. “Just like Martin Luther King said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,’ and these communities are hurting. I’m here to be here and say the conversation needs to be here focused on this crisis, this crisis in the streets.”
On my way home from the Green Party rally, I noticed 7-Eleven is once again conducting coffee-cup presidential polling, selling cups emblazoned with “The Republican” or “The Democrat.” (There’s also a cup for undecideds, the purple “Speak Up” cup.) It’s impossible to compete with that kind of gen-pop PR even if you’ve got all the spray paint in the world to make your mark.
“It’s the same thing every day,” said Todd as the media event wrapped up. “By five o’clock, they’ll be selling dope and shooting out here. Ain’t shit going to change, because there’s a big, big market in the misery of people.”
