By Jeanine Kim ’20
Joanna Im ’20 / Spectrum
Where They Stand
MINIMUM WAGE
Jill Stein: Raising the minimum wage to a living wage.
Gary Johnson: The government should eliminate all federal wage standards
GUN CONTROL
Jill Stein: Increased restrictions from purchasing gun.
Gary Johnson: Extra regulations for only criminals and the mentally ill.
ABORTION
Jill Stein: Pro-choice and continued funding for Planned Parenthood.
Gary Johnson: Pro-choice and supports Planned Parenthood.
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With election day approaching, political tensions are higher than ever. People from both the left and right are declaring themselves either for or against their traditional candidates. However, this year being an atypical political season, third party candidates are having a much greater impact than usual. Both liberals and conservatives are renouncing their past parties and declaring their support for candidates like Jill Stein of the Green party and Gary Johnson of the Libertarian party.
The Green party lies on the extreme left of the political spectrum. This party is based on the four pillars of peace, ecology, social justice and democracy. The Green party’s ideology emphasizes green politics and eco-socialism. These values highlight the idea of an ecologically sustainable world and the importance of eradicating socially destructive systems such as patriarchy and homophobia. The Green party is the fourth largest political party in the United States, with its main base being composed of liberals.
Jill Stein was a physician whose practice was based in Massachusetts. She was the Green party’s nominee in 2012 as well. After studying anthropology, psychology and sociology at Harvard, she practiced medicine for 25 years at many different hospitals and was an instructor of medicine.
The Libertarian party is at the other end of the political range. This party is socially liberal but fiscally conservative. Members of the Libertarian party believe in cultural policies like ending capital punishment and same-sex marriage. On the economical side, this party supports ending welfare and decreasing national debt. The Libertarian party generally promotes classical liberalism, which values individual freedom and limited government. This party is the third largest in the country, and its support mainly comes from conservatives.
Gary Johnson, the Libertarian party’s nominee, is a businessman from New Mexico. He attended the University of New Mexico and graduated with a degree in political science. Johnson started his own business, Big J Enterprises, which is now a multimillion dollar corporation. He also was the governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003.
With polls showing that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are unpopular candidates, both Stein and Johnson are generating a lot of attention about what their presence will do to this year’s political race.
