随着2024年总统大选升温，关于第三方角色的辩论开始酝酿-民主党人担心绿党可能会给选民提供一个诱人的替代方案，这可能会妨碍他们在大选中的机会。

这些担忧的核心是新人总统候选人康奈尔·韦斯特这位哲学家和活动家在6月5日宣布他打算与左翼民粹主义人民党一起竞选，然后在6月14日表示他将寻求绿党提名。

瓦尔多斯塔州立大学政治学教授伯纳德·塔马斯(Bernard Tamas)告诉美国广播公司新闻，美国第三党候选人不需要赢得选举才能有影响力。相反，他们经常“像蜜蜂一样蛰人”,让两个主要政党中的一个感到震惊，开始讨论他们感兴趣的问题。

塔马斯认为，绿党成员最大的希望是民主党将转向他们喜欢的立场，以努力消除他们可能夺走选民的威胁。

“我不认为绿党中的任何人有任何错觉，认为他们会赢得任何东西，”他说。“这是左派进步人士迫使民主党严肃对待他们严肃对待的问题的一种方式。”

换句话说，塔马斯说，韦斯特让拜登输掉选举的可能性不是巧合:这是第三方战略的核心部分。

“他们正处于进退两难的境地，”他在谈到绿党时说。“为这次选举让位，嗯，这将有效地结束他们的影响。”

美国绿党声明的优先事项平台正在减少美国的军事预算，通过从化石燃料向可再生能源的过渡、社会公正和民主改革(如选举的公共融资)来应对全球气候变化。

据一个政党称，截至2023年7月，美国绿党约有20万注册成员数据库和133名绿党成员担任民选职务。

到目前为止，与韦斯特争夺绿党提名的唯一候选人是兰迪·托勒，他是佛罗里达州绿党的联合主席，已经申请参加竞选，但尚未正式开始竞选。托勒还在竞选2024年佛罗里达州的参议员席位。

在两届绿党总统候选人、现任韦斯特竞选经理吉尔·斯坦(Jill Stein)的支持下，作为迄今为止唯一一名积极竞选的候选人，韦斯特被认为是这场竞选中的明确领先者。

与民主党和共和党一样，绿党的提名将从明年年初开始通过全国各地的初选或大会来决定，最终将在2024年的绿色全国大会上结束。大会的日期尚未宣布。

从来没有第三党候选人赢得过总统选举，但一些著名的第三党竞选，如商人罗斯·佩罗的竞选，可能已经改变了选举结果，泰迪·罗斯福、斯特罗姆·瑟蒙德和其他人的竞选活动甚至赢得了几个州。

康奈尔·韦斯特是谁，他为什么寻求绿党提名?

据他的工作人员称，韦斯特是一名哲学家，曾任哈佛大学公共哲学实践教授，他转而寻求绿党提名，因为这比他最初选择的人民党更广泛地出现在总统选票上。

为了出现在选票上，总统候选人需要满足各州的要求——这是一项相当昂贵和劳动密集型的工作。在美国，只有少数几个政党，如自由党和绿党，拥有在全国范围内满足这些要求所需的组织和基层支持。

“很明显，他需要一个能让他参加选举的政党，”斯坦说。

斯坦认为，虽然民主党和共和党也拥有这些资源，但韦斯特寻求第三方提名，因为他认为两党都不符合绿党在气候变化、企业和富裕捐赠者对美国政治的影响等问题上的标准。

“韦斯特博士是在按照我们拿到的牌的现实行事，”斯坦说。“如果你对民意调查有所了解，你就会知道美国选民已经与这个体系决裂了。...人们渴望在这次选举中有更多的选择和更多的声音，韦斯特博士正在说出人们深切感受到的需求。”

在这张2016年12月5日的档案照片中，绿党总统候选人吉尔·斯坦在纽约的新闻发布会上等待发言。

德鲁·安格雷尔/盖蒂图片社，档案

韦斯特的候选人资格引发了恐惧和热议批评民主党人表示，教授的竞选活动可能会“破坏”拜登的选举，在关键的摇摆州拉走现任总统的选票，并使选举偏向前总统唐纳德·特朗普。2016年，投票给当时的绿党总统候选人斯坦的人数超过了特朗普在密歇根州的胜利幅度，尽管斯坦已经争论她让民主党候选人希拉里·克林顿在那里输掉了选举，声称如果不是这样，不是所有的选民都会投票给克林顿。

“我认为民主党人有理由担心，”塔马斯说。" 1%的选票，2%的选票，很可能会将选举结果转移到共和党这边。"

斯坦认为这种可能性是“宣传”。

“这是党内精英保护自己，”她说。“当像韦斯特博士这样的人站出来，为人们提供另一种前进的方式，而不是把劳动人民、贫困的有色人种社区置于公共汽车之下的方式时，这就是糟蹋，这只是胡说八道。”

韦斯特也画了激烈反应进步主义者最近的一篇专栏文章称赞佛罗里达州州长、共和党总统候选人罗恩·德桑蒂斯支持以西方文学经典为导向的“古典教育”。

韦斯特会拉拢哪些选民?

鉴于韦斯特在种族公正方面的背景，塔马斯说，自然倾向于相信韦斯特能够吸引非洲裔美国选民。

但Tamas说，历史表明情况可能并非如此。从历史上看，非裔美国选民是一个相当厌恶风险的投票群体，他们只投票给被认为胜算很大的候选人。

“他们不太可能接受挑战，”他说。

然而，公共宗教研究所的研究员兼首席执行官梅丽莎·戴克曼说，韦斯特的左翼纲领可能会吸引一些进步选民。这在年轻选民中尤其如此，对他们来说，社会主义是一项有吸引力的经济政策，与其冷战时期的负面内涵截然不同。

“一般来说,‘社会主义’一词并不一定为公众所接受。然而，我在研究中发现，年轻的美国人，尤其是年轻女性，更倾向于接受社会主义的概念。

“许多美国人会说，资本主义作为一个系统并不适合他们，”她继续说道。例如，越来越多的美国人因为生活成本太高而难以维持生计。

德克曼还指出，气候变化是影响一些选民对资本主义看法的一个因素。韦斯特把这个问题作为他竞选活动的一个支柱，经常把“生态崩溃”列为他的首要任务之一。

第一个挑战:参加投票

韦斯特竞选活动的效力可能会开启一系列围绕投票法的相对模糊的程序。每个州对于谁有资格出现在某个职位的选票上有不同的规定。大多数州要求候选人收集签名或支付申请费。

但是绿党认为这些法律不公平地让资金雄厚的候选人受益。

“即使在宪法中，也总是有对人民的检查，”绿党选票获取委员会的联合主席托尼·恩德格在给ABC新闻的一封电子邮件中写道。“他们宣传说，‘好吧，这些是严肃的候选人。’嗯，他们是认真对待继续受大财团利益的候选人。"

摇摆州宾夕法尼亚可能成为关键战场。在上一次总统选举周期中，绿党在该州收集了足够的签名，但由于收集必要签名的技术问题，该党被取消了投票资格。绿党已经在另外两个关键的摇摆州进行了投票:密歇根州和威斯康星州。

综上所述，恩德格表示，他期待一个“有趣的2024年”。

“当你在做正确的事情时，总会有当权者的反对。我认为，随着时间的推移，这种情况将会急剧加剧。

该党尚未宣布召开大会的日期或地点。

'People are hungry for more choices': Inside the Green Party's push for 2024

Withthe 2024 presidential election heating up, debates over the role of third parties are beginning to simmer -- and Democrats fear the Green Party could offer voters an enticing alternative who could hamper their chances in the general election.

At the center of those concerns isnewcomer presidential candidate Cornel West, a philosopher and activist who announced his intent to run with the left-wing, populist People's Party on June 5 before switching, saying on June 14 he would seek the Green Party nomination.

Bernard Tamas, a political science professor at Valdosta State University, told ABC News that American third-party candidates don't need to win elections to be influential. Rather, they often "sting like a bee" and shock one of the two major parties to take up issues they're passionate about.

Tamas believes that the best hope for Green Party members is that the Democratic Party will shift towards their preferred positions in an effort to neutralize the threat that they could siphon away voters.

"I don't think anyone in the Green Party has any delusions that they're going to win anything," he said. "This is a way for the progressives, those on the left, to force the Democratic Party to take [seriously] issues that they take seriously."

In other words, Tamas said, the possibility that West might cost Biden the election isn't a coincidence: It's a core part of third parties' strategy.

"They're between a rock and a hard place," he said of the Green Party. "Stepping aside for this election, well, it would effectively end their impact at all."

The stated priorities of the U.S. Green Party'splatformare decreasing the U.S. military budget, addressing global climate change through a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, social justice, and democratic reforms like the public financing of elections.

The U.S. Green Party has about 200,000 registered members as of July 2023, according to a partydatabase, and 133 members of the Green Party hold elected office.

So far, the only candidate competing against West for the Green Party nomination is Randy Toler, a co-chair of Florida's Green Party, who has filed to enter the race but has not yet formally begun his campaign. Toler is also running for Florida's open Senate seat in 2024.

With the endorsement of Jill Stein, a two-time Green Party presidential nominee who is now West's campaign manager, and as the only candidate who is actively campaigning so far, West is considered the clear frontrunner in the race.

Like the Democrat and Republican parties, the Green Party nomination will be decided through primaries or conventions across the country starting early next year, culminating in the 2024 Green National Convention. The date of the convention has not yet been announced.

No third party nominee has ever won a presidential election -- but some famous third-party bids, such as that of businessman Ross Perot, may have shifted electoral outcomes, and campaigns from Teddy Roosevelt, Strom Thurmond and others even won a few states.

Who is Cornel West and why is he seeking the Green Party nomination?

According to his staff, West, who is a philosopher and former professor of the practice of public philosophy at Harvard University, switched to seeking the Green Party nomination because it is more widely listed on presidential ballots than his original selection of the People's Party.

In order to appear on the ballot, presidential candidates need to meet state-by-state requirements – a fairly costly and labor-intensive endeavor. In the U.S., only a select few parties, like the Libertarian Party and the Green Party, have the organizational and grassroots support needed to meet those requirements across the country.

"It became clear that he needed a party that could actually get him on the ballot," said Stein.

While the Democratic and Republican parties also have those resources, Stein argued, West sought a third party nomination because he believes neither party met the Green Party's standards on the issues of climate change, the influence of corporations and wealthy donors in U.S. politics, and more.

"Dr. West is acting on the reality of the cards that we've been dealt," said Stein. "If you know anything about the polls, you know that American voters have broken with the system. ... People are hungry for more choices and more voices in this election and Dr. West is speaking to the deeply felt need."

West's candidacy has sparked fears and heatedcriticismfrom Democrats that the professor's campaign could "spoil" the election for Biden, pulling votes away from the incumbent in vital swing states and tipping the election towards former President Donald Trump. In 2016, the number of people who voted for Stein, then the Green Party presidential nominee, exceeded Trump's margin of victory in Michigan, though Stein hasdisputedthat she cost Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton the election there, arguing that not all of her voters would have voted for Clinton otherwise.

"I think that Democrats have reason to worry," Tamas said. "1% of the vote, 2% of the vote, could very well shift the election over to the Republican Party."

Stein dismissed that possibility as "propaganda."

"This is about the party elite protecting themselves," she said. "To call that spoiling, when people like Dr. West stand up and offer people another way forward, instead of this pathway that has just been throwing working people, poor communities of color, under the bus, that's just nonsense."

West has also drawnbacklashfrom progressives for a recent op-ed where hepraisedFlorida Gov. and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis for supporting a "classical education" oriented around the Western literary canon.

Which voters will West woo?

Given West's background in racial justice, Tamas said the natural inclination would be to believe West could attract African American voters.

But history suggests that might not be the case, Tamas said. Historically, African-American voters have been a fairly risk-averse voting bloc, only voting for candidates that are thought to have good odds of winning.

"They are much less likely to jump on board to a challenge," he said.

However, West's left-wing platform could appeal to a certain base of progressive voters, said Melissa Deckman, a researcher and CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute. This is especially true among younger voters for whom socialism is an appealing economic policy divorced from its negative Cold War-era connotations.

"Generally speaking, the term 'socialism' is not one that is necessarily embraced by the general public. However, younger Americans, especially young women, I found in my research, tend to be more open to the concept of socialism," Deckman said.

"Many Americans would say that capitalism as a system isn't working well for them," she continued. "For example, many Americans are struggling to make ends meet, increasingly because the cost of living is too high."

Deckman also named climate change as a factor shaping some voters' perception of capitalism. West has made the issue a pillar of his campaign, frequently naming "ecological collapse" as one of his key priorities.

The first challenge: Getting on the ballot

The potency of West's campaign could turn on a set of relatively obscure proceedings surrounding ballot access laws. Each state has different rules for who can qualify to appear on the ballot for a certain office. Most states require candidates to gather signatures or pay a filing fee.

But the Green Party argues these laws unfairly benefit well-funded candidates.

"There's always been, even in the Constitution, a check on the people," wrote Tony Ndege, a co-chair of the Ballot Access Committee for the Green Party, in an email to ABC News. "They spin the propaganda of, 'Well, these are the serious candidates.' Well, they're the candidates serious about remaining beholden to big money interests."

The swing state of Pennsylvania could become a key battleground. The Green Party gathered the sufficient number of signatures for ballot access in that state during the last presidential election cycle, but it was disqualified from the ballot due to technical issues with how the requisite signatures were gathered. The Green Party is already on the ballot in two other key swing states: Michigan and Wisconsin.

Taken together, Ndege said he is expecting an "interesting 2024."

"There will always be pushback from those in power when you are doing the right thing. I think that will intensify dramatically as the months continue," Ndege said.

The party has not announced a date or location for its convention.