Cornell West's Quixotic Third Party Run
Why?
Let’s get this out of the way at the outset: Professor Cornel West will not be the next President of the United States. Not in this universe, and probably not in any other foreseeable “multiverse.”
That simple fact of life notwithstanding, West, 70, this week announced a Presidential run on the fledgling People’s Party ticket. "Elevate this thing Dr. West," tweeted former Democratic Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, often mentioned as a possible challenger to President Biden. Black voter turnout in the 2022 midterms was down nearly 10 percent, according to the Census Bureau’s turnout survey, and now Cornell West wants to run a third party campaign against Biden. Charmed, I’m sure.
West’s candidacy, though not going anywhere, is more problematic that of RFK, Jr. — or even Marianne Williamson. Kennedy and Williamson are both running within the Democratic primary system and will probably endorse Biden once they are defeated. Sure, some “polls” have RFK, Jr. at 14 to 20 percent against Biden, but there is no reason to freak out, as Jen Psaki reminds us. “… Kennedy’s early numbers probably have a lot more to do with name recognition than policy,” Psaki writes. “His family is still beloved by many in the Democratic electorate, even though most people would never recognize him on the street.” Further, Williamson, who was up to 9 percent in a highly implausible Fox poll in April, will probably not materialize that much support when the primaries actually begin in earnest next year. Take deep, cleansing breaths, dear reader.
Still, West’s candidacy is a bit more more problematic. From Nick Robins-Early in The Guardian:
West promoted his bid for the presidency on Monday in an appearance on Russell Brand’s popular show on the online video sharing platform Rumble. West told Brand, a frequent amplifier of conspiracy theories, that he watches Brand’s show “religiously” as the two discussed West’s campaign.
“We need some radicalism within politics,” Brand said at the start of his show, before mentioning him in the same breath as other long-shot presidential candidates Marianne Williamson and anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy Jr.
While West will be competing with Williamson and Kennedy for the conspiracy. coocoo for cocopuffs anti-vaxxer vote, he also has a bit of a base among young people, African-Americans and — possibly problematic — Bernie Sanders enthusiasts. Nick Brana, who was the national Political Outreach Coordinator for the 2016 Bernie Sanders Presidential campaign, founded the Movement for a People's Party -- now the "People's Party" -- out of the "Draft Bernie for a People's Party.” So now Professor West is running on a third party ballot, which means he is not going away — he could be pulling votes from Biden, even if in miniscule amounts, until Election Day. “But just 44,000 votes in Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin separated Biden and Trump from a tie in the Electoral College,” wrote Domenico Montanaro at NPR in 2020. So there’s that.
This comes at a time when voter registration is either stagnant or slipping among the two dominant parties in America. Independents/Unaffiliated voters are gaining ground. But not nearly enough ground, rest assured, for Cornel West ever to win the presidency. Professor West knows this. How could a professional educator unafraid of data not?
Amy Walter, the Publisher and Editor in Chief of The Cook Political Report was talking about third party candidates this week, and made a powerful point. From NBC News:
Amy Walter: (Cornel West) doesn't need to get on the ballot in 50 states ... just got on WI and AZ and Georgia ... and pull one or two percent, that could be enough to make Biden's success there really tenuous.
Announcer: We all remember Ralph Nader's role in 2000
AW: — And Jill Stein, etc. Now, its different, obviously these are different candidates, its a different time. But we know how narrow those margins are going to be regardless of what the campaign ultimately looks like.
I was just thinking about this yesterday, of course, about Nader’s role in the first term of Bush the Younger and the No Labels third party. And George Santayana’s admonition. Add to that the fact that Black, Latino and youth turnout were all noticeably down in the 2022 midterms, despite the many favorable outcomes. Think: Philadelphia, where voter engagement is down. And Wisconsin, where low Black and Latino turnout in Milwaukee might have cost
For the last two newsletters I have been sounding the alarm — about No Labels, now about Cornel West — not to stoke the fires of anxiety, but to persistently remind Democrats what kind of headwinds President Biden will be up against in 2024.
And why he needs our support and evangelism, even this early, in the summer of 2023.
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