If you’re part of the Bernie or Bust campaign or are just curious about what candidates are running for president outside of the two major political parties, hopefully the following article should clear some things up.
Currently, there are three parties aside from the Democratic and Republican parties that have over 75,000 registered voters; these are the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Constitution Party.
The Green Party is the fourth largest political party in the U.S. and has about 248,000 registered voters. The party is very far left and promotes environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice, grassroots democracy, egalitarianism, LGBT rights, and anti-racism. The Green Party is also highly against the use of Super PACs in a presidential campaign. The Green Party’s nominee will most likely be Jill Stein, who has been an active member of the Green Party since she was a young adult. Stein was a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 2002, and the Green Party nominee for president in 2012. Stein received 456,169 votes in the 2012 election, more than any other female general election candidate in U.S. history. She also holds a degree in medicine from Harvard Medical School and is a practicing doctor.
The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the U.S., having about 411,000 members. The Libertarian platform promotes civil liberties, free markets, non-interventionism, and Laissez-faire economics. Members of the party consider libertarianism to be more socially liberal than the Democratic Party, and more fiscally conservative than the Republican Party. The Party’s nominee will likely be Gary Johnson, a former Republican as well as the former Governor of N.M. Despite his former political alignment, Johnson has consistently described himself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal, and has consistently supported legalization of recreational drugs. Johnson is also the former CEO of Cannabis Salvia, Inc. and founded the “Our America Initiative” Super PAC.
The Constitution Party is a paleoconservative, far right political party and has about 76,000 members. The party believes in strict adherence to the constitution and the Christian Bible. The party emphasizes fiscal and social conservatism, isolationism, and the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation, despite this being contradictory to the constitution. The party does not currently have a nominee for president and there is no one currently seeking the nomination.
There are many other third parties that have fewer than 75,000 members, but most of them are subsets of major parties with a focus on a single issue and very little representation, they are not worth mentioning. If you are a “Bernie or Bust” supporter and Sanders doesn’t win the democratic nomination, I would recommend voting for Jill Stein as her views most closely resemble Sanders’.
If you have any further interest on seeing where you side politically, I would recommend this online test: http://www.isidewith.com/
