#Politics Warning, random screed in which I invoke my Poli Sci degree and personal experience with presidential elections ...
In 1991-1992 I worked on a campaign for a fringe Democratic presidential candidate. Spoiler, he didn't win.
For all the fuss about RFK Jr., Jill Stein, Dean Phillips, etc. challenging #Biden, I wanted to point out a few basic realities.
Each of the 50 states has its own unique rules for qualifying for the ballot ... (1/x)
#Politics Not just in the primaries, but also in the general election.
If you're not part of the party's "establishment," it is really tough to qualify for the primary ballot if you don't know what you're doing. Dean Phillips is a non-issue unless he has boots on the ground already in NH, SC, the Super Tuesday states, etc.
Caucuses are even tougher, because you need to turn out people willing to go to a caucus to vote for you. If you don't have a local organization, you lose. (2/x)
#Politics In the November 2024 general election, again each state has its own rules to qualify for the ballot. That means you need to have fifty organizations figuring out how to do it, if you're not the D or R candidate.
If you're the Green candidate, e.g. Jill Stein, they know what they're doing. But RFK Jr. or someone else like Joe Manchin running as an independent? It's almost impossible unless you have a lot of money, e.g. Perot. (3/x)
@joycereynoldsward Sorry, I don't understand. 🤔
@WordsmithFL Jerry Brown.
@joycereynoldsward Ah, fringier than that!
Larry Agran was the former mayor of Irvine, CA. I did political consulting for him. He was somewhat well-known nationallly at the local level for implementing progressive initiatives that eventually led to his defeat in 1990.
George McGovern asked Larry to run his 1992 presidential campaign. We were setting up to do that when George decided to drop out. Larry decided to run himself.
Here's a highlight reel. (1/2)
@joycereynoldsward Long story, but basically the DNC decided early to go with Clinton and started forcing out other candidates. At first, Agran was included in events with the other candidates, then the DNC dropped him from the roster.
Larry almost got arrested in NH for trying to join one debate. He got arrested and beaten by NYPD for trying the same trick.
I wrote a paper about it for New Political Science. You can download the PDF here. (2/2)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IC6MWlnsS00wazaJoOcPJAHP-ffuyZep/view
@joycereynoldsward Anyway, in the context of the earlier discussion, I recall researching for him the eligibility rules for the ballot in each state. We filed lawsuits in a few places; Florida issued a weird ruling, saying that the party decides who it wants as a candidate, not the voters! If the FL Democratic Party doesn't want a candidate on the ballot, s/he's off. An odd precedent.
Each state has its own rules. That's why I say it's really hard for someone like RFK Jr. to qualify.