Stein Secures Green Party Presidential Nom

Jill Stein, the Lexington resident and Green Party presidential hopeful, has clinched her party’s nomination. 

Her win last week in the California primary brought Stein’s delegate tally to 194, more than the 182 necessary to win the nomination, according to reports. Stein has won 66 percent of all delegates allocated, triple that of her nearest competitor, Roseanne Barr. (Yes, that Roseanne Barr.)

"Voters will not be forced to choose between two servants of Wall Street in the upcoming election,” said Stein in a statement posted on her website. “Now we know there will be a third candidate on the ballot who is a genuine champion of working people."

A physician and familiar fringe candidate in her home state, Stein’s presidential platform is to propose a “,” which according to the candidate, would create 25 million new jobs, end unemployment and transition to the country toward a green economy – and not just by legalizing and taxing marijuana.

The Green Party’s nomination convention is mid-July in Baltimore, and . Other tasks in her immediate future include getting on the ballot on states where she’s not currently and drumming up enough nationwide support to get into a presidential debate.

That’ll be a tall order, according to ABC News, which said Stein would need 15 percent of people polled to say they’d vote for her.

Said ABC News on its OTUS political blog:

Stein doesn’t have much money, partly because she doesn’t accept donations from anyone who hires a lobbyist. And don’t expect any Green Party Super PACs to crop up, either. Instead, Stein said, she’s hoping for a social media-type reaction to her candidacy a la the SOPA bill ... Stein wants to trigger online buzz about her campaign goals so that people (especially students and the uninsured) care enough to tell pollsters they’d vote for her.

Stein said as much a few months ago, when : She wants the campaign to grow virally into an alternative for disenchanted voters. While winning the presidency may not be a reality, Stein says a groundswell of support would send a message.

“I think it would be unrealistic, shall we say, to go from a teeny-weeny section of the vote to go to the majority or plurality,” said Stein at the time. “We need to get a politics for people and politics for integrity back on board.  And the green party is about that. That is our goal and we can achieve that. And from there we can go onto bigger things.”