A scion of the famed Kennedy family. A Green Party activist. A self-proclaimed "armed and gay" libertarian.
The US presidential election is toss-up between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump. However, the two-party system still left room this year for three fringe players who could yet influence an ultra-tight election on Tuesday.
Leftists Jill Stein, Cornel West
Jill Stein, 74, ran for president as the Green Party candidate in 2012 and then in 2016, winning just 0.4 percent and one percent, respectively.
This time, the Chicago-born physician and environmental activist will be on the ballot in nearly 40 states, presenting a headache for the Democrats as she could peel off a crucial handful of votes from Harris in contests where she is neck and neck against Trump.
The Democratic National Committee released a television ad against Stein in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which says that "a vote for Stein is really a vote for Trump."
Stein has sought to distance herself from President Joe Biden's administration and vowed to stop supporting what she called Israel's "genocide" in Gaza.
She has advocated for raising taxes for the richest Americans, canceling student debt, and reducing defense spending.
Cornel West, another candidate from the green camp, chose to run independently of the Green Party.
The 71-year-old academic and anti-racism activist who calls Biden a "war criminal" and describes Trump as a "neofascist" will be on the ballot in nearly a dozen states. He too will siphon a tiny but potentially painful number of votes from Harris.
Chase Oliver, Libertarian
The Libertarian Party received a little over one percent of the vote in 2020, and this year will be on the ballot in almost all 50 states, also acting as a potential spoiler.
The new face of the party, which advocates for free trade and limited government, is Chase Oliver, a 39-year-old former Democrat who ran for a Senate seat from Georgia in 2022.
Unknown at the time, the science fiction fan who describes himself as "armed and gay" got around two percent of the vote, forcing a runoff between the incumbent Democrat and his Republican challenger.
Oliver favors pro-gun, fiscally conservative policies but also supports abortion rights and the legalization of cannabis and is against the death penalty.
Oliver will be on the ballot in three battleground states.
Kennedy for Trump
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., scion of America's storied political clan, was polling at four to five percent nationally before he pulled out of the race in late August and endorsed Trump—to the great chagrin of his family.
The environmental lawyer, conspiracy theorist, and vaccine skeptic was for a time seen as a threat to Harris, with some of her supporters potentially migrating to RFK Jr. But he is also likely to draw away at least some Trump votes.
On quitting, he tried to get himself taken off the ballot in battleground states. But several of those states have refused to remove him as a candidate.
While he has since campaigned vigorously alongside Trump, it remains unclear what his ultimate impact on the election will be.
With AFP
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