I am not a Hillary fan or a registered Democrat. I usually vote for the Green Party. But after watching coverage of the Republican National Convention I am convinced that Donald Trump and his legion of chanting supporters are a threat to democratic values in the United States and if he is elected President, to the democratic process itself.
With the selection of Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her Vice-Presidential running mate, Hillary Clinton has begun implementing an election strategy of moving right toward the political center. Hillary must have been watching Rudy Giuliani's weird shrieking at the Republican National Convention because her sense of direction is all fouled up. To win the November election and stop Donald Trump, Hillary and the Democrats need to veer to the left.
Hillary and the Democratic Party must build a center-left coalition that will mobilize thousands of Bernie Sanders supporters and millions of his voters. If Hillary and the Democrats go too far to the right they will alienate the young voters who energized the Sander's campaign. They risk losing their activism and votes to Green Party candidate Jill Stein and that could be disastrous in crucial battleground states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, and North Carolina, throwing the election to Trump. Bernie Sanders is in the ideal position to broker a center-left coalition.
The Green Party, America's left opposition, is certainly closer to the Democrats than they are to Trump. But because of the two-party bias in American politics, the Greens are unlikely to challenge on the national political scene for a long time. The Greens have been closed out of the televised national presidential debates and they definitely need media exposure.
This is my proposal.
In exchange for Democratic Party support for Jill Stein's participation in the debates, Stein and the Green Party agree to support Hillary's candidacy in the crucial swing states. In the solid Blue states the Democrats and the Greens would compete for voters, but in the battleground states the Greens would call on their supporters to vote for Hillary in a united front to defeat Trump.
Out of fairness and a commitment to democracy, Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for President, should also be included in the debates. I hope to see all four candidates at Hofstra University for the first presidential debate on September 26. As always, I will be outside the arena with a picket sign.
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