Checkpoint: Alternative Third-Party Candidates For Disenchanted Voters
Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia and Cornel west
Background
As the 2024 election year draws ever closer, tensions between Democrats and Republicans are mounting, heightened by the political polarization that divides American voters today more potently than in years past. Not only have partisan politics become increasingly extreme–––due to growing distrust and a seemingly never-ending supply of culture wars–––but more citizens are disenchanted with the United States's two-party system. The majority of adult Americans identify as Independents, with 42 percent claiming no distinct political party compared to numbers for Democrats (29 percent) and Republicans (27 percent) after the 2021 presidential election.
Negative opinions of the bipartisan system are at their highest in decades as more and more voters believe neither group adequately represents their interests, and nearly half of younger Americans wish there were more parties to choose from. Fortunately, alternative political candidates identifying with third parties, such as the Green Party and the Party for Socialization and Liberation, have become more relevant in politics, some even declaring their candidacy in the 2024 presidential election. Social democratic contenders–––emphasizing social and economic change to return power and democracy to the people–––are testing their mettle in politics and providing hope for voters who dread another bipartisan Biden versus Trump showdown next year.
For Truth And Justice: Cornel West
A candidate for the Green Party, Cornel West is a political activist and academic rising in influence and importance in public affairs. West has always been an avid academic activist and philosopher–––receiving philosophy degrees from Harvard and Princeton, respectively–––and aligns his race, gender, and economic policies with a socialist ideology. West announced his decision to run for presidential office on June 5th of this year, aligning himself with the Green Party and criticizing both major political parties for their participation in Wall Street, the war in Ukraine, and the Pentagon. As a supporter of the social democratic philosophy, West promotes accessible healthcare, quality education, and living wages for all people–––eventually, he believes, leading to equal rights for indigenous, Black, LGBTQIA+ peoples and women and immigrants.
His political platform stresses drastically cutting U.S. military spending, Medicare for All, guaranteed public housing and education rights, and fundamental action on climate change. In his strategy for "Dismantling the Empire," Cornel West plans to dismantle the United States' vast collection of military bases and draw U.S. foreign policy away from capitalist corporate profits. His campaign for global peace includes abolishing nuclear weapons, advocating for the environment, and fostering humanitarian and egalitarian relationships with other countries in the international system. As he expresses, an economic shift away from capitalism––– which perpetuates inequality and poverty––– and toward a welfare state will unleash true democracy in America.
Working Class Voices: De La Cruz And Garcia
As members of the Party for Socialization and Liberation, Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia have announced their intention to run for President and Vice President of the United States in 2024. With the slogan "End Capitalism Before It Ends Us," their platform currently revolves around economic and social issues like feminism, anti-capitalism, and climate change. As Socialists, their goal is to bring power back to the people, the working class in particular, by changing the system that grants wealth and authority primarily to corporations and the ultra-rich. As such, their political policies focus on ousting corporate control from politics and revising the dire social situations of the American working class. De la Cruz is a community organizer and educator who has spent her career as a political activist fighting for the liberation of Black people, freedom for Palestinians, and Puerto Rican independence. She is also a founder of The People's Forum, an organization based on fighting for the rights of working-class communities. Garcia is an immigrant rights, reproductive rights, and wage equality activist and a founder of the Justice Center en El Barrio in New York City.
Their policies include climate change advocacy, universal health care and living wages for all, accessible education and childcare opportunities, and equal rights for women, LGBTQIA+ people, and Black Americans. They also champion union representation, rights of immigrant workers, affirmative action, and ending police brutality. De la Cruz and Garcia's plan for creating a new and better economy for the people starts with seizing the 100 largest corporations in America and nationalizing them out of the grip of private ownership. They intend to further these socialist objectives by cutting the military budget and reallocating the funds to serve better the everyday problems working-class Americans face, such as food and income insecurity. De la Cruz and Garcia's policies end corporate lobbying and corruption, advocating for a shift in government that meets the needs of all Americans instead of a select few.
State Representatives: Hunt And Landry
While neither Megan Hunt nor Mandie Landry plans on running for President in the 2024 election, one cannot forget their essential participation in the third-party, social democratic movement as state officials. Both women identify as members of the Democratic Socialists of America, along with long-time Independent favorite Bernie Sanders and Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Nebraska Senator Megan Hunt is a social democrat switching from the Democratic Party to an Independent as of May 5th of this year, claiming, like many others, that the political dysfunction of the parties rendered them "ideologically bankrupt." Her platform includes a well-financed public school system, affordable college education, criminal justice reform, immigrant and LGBTQIA+ rights, paid parental leave, universal healthcare, and environmental protection.
Mandie Landry is a Louisiana House of Representatives member and identifies as an Independent with Hunt. A supporter of human rights and progressive politics, her policies also align with the social democratic philosophy and the transition to a welfare state. She advocates for reproductive rights, gun safety, criminal justice, labor and workers' rights, and tax reform. As more social democrats move toward an Independent affiliation in the years to come, Hunt and Landry represent a bright future for the political philosophy.
Conclusion
For social democratic American voters unsure where they stand on the highly polarized spectrum of modern-day politics, 2024 presidential and vice-presidential candidates Cornel West, Claudia De la Cruz, and Karina Garcia symbolize a positive future for the United States away from solely Democratic and Republican legislation. As an incredibly diverse country that grows more so by the day, it seems preposterous that there are only two political ideologies to choose from should one want their vote to count in presidential, congressional, and state elections. Suppose the rallying Revolutionary War cry "no taxation without represenation" is still a foundational value of the United States. In that case, social democratic Americans should be able to elect the government officials they feel adequately express their political views–––civil servants like West, De la Cruz, Garcia, Hunt, and Landry.
