Jill Stein
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About
Jill Ellen Stein (born May 14th, 1950) is an American activist, doctor, and politician who ran for as the Green Party's candidate in the 2012 and 2016 U.S. presidential elections.[1]
History
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Stein graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, the same school where she would later earn her Medical Degree. She practiced and taught medicine until 2006.[4] Though raised Jewish, she now considers herself agnostic.[8]
Environmental Activism
As a doctor she was concerned about the pollution from coal plants in the environment of Massachusetts. In 1998, she began protesting the "Filthy Five" coal plants in Massachusetts.[5] Her testimony helped end mercury poisoning in the air and water of the state. She also helped implement the "Secure Green Future" ballot initiative in the 2008 elections in Massachusetts that called upon legislators to move the state's economy towards renewable energy.[6]
Political Campaigns
Stein ran for Governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and 2010, finishing third and last, respectively. In 2004, she ran for the Massachusetts House of Representatives, but lost to the incumbent, Thomas Stanley. In 2006, she ran for Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but lost to Democrat Bill Gavin.
Stein served as a member of Lexington, Massachusetts' Town Meeting style government from 2005-2011.
2012 Presidential campaign
On October 24th, 2011, Stein announced that she would run for president on the Green party ticket in 2012. She stated "Voters will not be forced to choose between two servants of Wall Street in the upcoming election."[7] She won high profile endorsements from the likes of writer Noam Chomsky.[9] She was arrested on the site of a presidential debate while protesting exclusion of smaller parties. She received 469,501 votes in the election for 0.36%, making her the most successful female candidate for presidency in U.S. History yet.[10]
2016 Presidential campaign
Stein announced her candidacy for the 2016 Green Party nomination for Presidency of the United States on June 22nd, 2015. During the campaign, Stein attempted to position herself as an alternative[3] to Hillary Clinton for disillusioned Bernie Sanders supporters, criticizing both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as poor choices for president.[12] She received endorsements from the likes of professor and author Cornel West,[13] who called Clinton a "neoliberal disaster."
On August 1st, 2016, she chose human rights activist Ajamu Baraka as her running mate.[11] Stein has polled as high as 7% in the general election, though a poll on July 30th, 2016, found her trailing Harambe. [15]
Online Presence
Jill Stein has a following on all major social networks. As of August 2nd, 2016, she has over 199,000 followers on Twitter,[14] over 473,000 likes on Facebook,[16] over 15,500 followers on Instagram,[17] and a subreddit, /r/jillstein,[18] with almost 12,000 readers. Following Bernie Sanders' Endorsement of Hillary Clinton, donations to Stein increased nearly 1000% and increased tenfold in over 24 hours.[2]
Endorsement of @DankJillMemes
On August 27th, 2016, Stein sent out a tweet[21] encouraging her followers to follow the Twitter account @DankJillMemes[22], a "sister account" to the Weird Facebook page Jill Stein Dank Meme Stash. As of August 29th, the tweet has over 2,300 retweets and 4,300 likes.
The story was picked up by Uproxx[23] and The Daily Dot.[24]
Harambe Memorial Tweet
On August 28th, 2016, Stein tweeted "The killing of Harambe 3 months ago today reminds us to be a voice for the voiceless," along with a link to a statement supporting animal rights.[25] As of August 29th, 2016, the tweet has 5,600 retweets and 6,200 likes.
Though the statement seemed to be in line with the Green Party's stance on animal rights, Twitter users and news outlets including New York Magazine[26] and Jezebel[27] saw the tweet as opportunistic pandering to Weird Twitter and Weird Facebook, for whom Harambe is one of the most popular memes of Summer 2016. New York Magazine jokingly pondered if Stein's tweet was intended to help her gain in the polls against the Gorilla, citing a Public Policy Polling tweet[28] that found Stein trailing Harambe by three points.
Controversies
Stein has attracted the ire of Democrats who believe that a vote for Stein is a vote for Trump. Even Bernie Sanders implored Democrats to not vote third-party.[20] New York Magazine writer Jonathan Chait criticized Jill's position that a Clinton presidency will fan the flames of right-wing extremism in an article titled "Jill Stein's Plan to Stop Trump by Electing Him President."[19]
Search Interest
References
[3] The Atlantic – Can Jill Stein Lead a Revolution?
[4] wne.edu – WOMEN IN POLITICS SEMINAR
[5] NBC News – Meet Jill Stein, the Green Party Candidate for President
[6] The Boston Phoenix – Steps Towards a Greener Future
[7] Boston.com – Mitt Romney won’t be the only Massachusetts resident on the presidential ballot
[8] Forbes – Who Is Jill Stein Anyway?
[9] alternet – Noam Chomsky on How Progressives Should Approach Election 2012
[10] Pacific Dreams, New York Life – Election Results and Analysis
[11] Time – Green Party’s Jill Stein Selects Human-Rights Activist Ajamu Baraka as Running Mate
[12] Reddit – I am Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for President, AMA!
[13] Democracynow.org – Cornel West: Why I Endorse Green Party's Jill Stein Over "Neoliberal Disaster" Hillary Clinton
[14] Twitter – @DrJillStein
[15] Public Policy Polling – July 30th, 2016 Report
[16] Facebook – @drjillstein
[17] Instagram – jillsteinforamerica
[18] Reddit – /r/jillstein
[19] New York Magazine – Jill Stein Explains Her Plan to Stop Trump by Electing Him President
[20] Washington Post – Sanders warns his supporters against choosing a third party
[21] Twitter – @DrJillStein
[22] Twitter – @DankJillMemes
[23] Uproxx – Jill Stein Embraces The Internet And Endorses Her Own Dank Memes
[24] The Daily Dot – Jill Stein endorses her own dank memes
[25] Twitter – @DrJillStein's Tweet
[26] New York Magazine – Jill Stein Becomes the First Presidential Candidate to Court the Harambe Vote
[27] Jezebel – Jill Stein Remembers Harambe. Do You?
[28] Twitter – @PublicPolicyPolling
Top Comments
Nedhitis
Aug 03, 2016 at 12:43PM EDT
Freakenstein Moderator
Aug 03, 2016 at 01:46PM EDT