Noted academic, Cornel West, declared his independent run for the 2024 Presidential Election on Thursday, putting his campaign with the Green Party on hold amidst disapproval from a few dominant leftists. The announcement was delivered through a video on social media where West pledged to “break the grip of the duopoly and give power to the people,” though he didn't provide any underlying reasons for his departure from the Green Party, potentially complicating his efforts to appear on the presidential ballot next year.
Back in June, West, a former Harvard professor, declared his intention to run for office under the lesser known "People’s Party." However, with the support of Jill Stein, the erstwhile Green presidential nominee, West decided to seek the support of the more recognized party. But, Ralph Nader, the renowned progressive advocate and Green presidential nominee in 2000, who is backing Joe Biden in 2024, expressed skepticism about the Green Party’s political framework, leading to conjecture about West's decision.
In conversation with The Washington Post, Nader lauded West’s political agenda but highlighted the organisational shortcomings of the Greens. He said, “Cornel West has the most complete progressive agenda. It almost doesn’t have any progressive aberrations. The problem is that the Greens are not that organized…and you can’t run a presidential campaign if you don’t have local candidates and some kind of organization round the country.”
Peter Daou, West's campaign manager, asserted that Nader didn’t directly influence West’s decision, and denied any involvement of Bernie Sanders, a longtime comrade of West, in influencing the decision. Daou, announcing West’s decision to leave the Greens, said, “Our Constitution provides for Independent candidates to gain ballot access in all states, and Dr. West has begun seeking ballot access as an Independent, unaffiliated with any political party. As this movement gains momentum, Dr. West acknowledges and nods in solidarity with the Green Party for their shared values and commitment to justice.”
West’s decision to run as a Green Party candidate had invoked mixed feelings amongst long-term political compatriots and friends and caused unease amongst top Democrats with fears of him becoming a spoiler candidate for Biden in the forthcoming elections. This reminded them of the 2000 and 2016 elections, where Green nominees – Nader and Stein – allegedly tilted the electoral scale in favor of Republicans in pivotal states.
Despite the skepticism about West’s ability to generate adequate funds for a vast operation, mainstream Democrats have refrained from engaging with him, following Biden’s lead.
West, a major democratic socialist activist of his generation, supported Sanders during his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns. A former philosophy professor at Harvard with tenure at Princeton, West resumed his teaching career at Union Theological Seminary in 2021. Known for his radical political thoughts since the civil rights movement, he has been a severe critic of Barack Obama's policies, accusing him of being instrumental in the rise of Donald Trump.
Post 2020 U.S. Presidential Elections, West wasn't optimistic about the newly elected Biden, reflecting the sentiments of many socialist and left-wing contemporaries, wherein he remarked, “It looks as if we’ll be wrestling with a neoliberal disaster…”.
