She's a grifter.

Jill Stein voters are a tiny percentage of the votes Hillary Clinton did not get. More people in those states voted for Gary Johnson, more people in those states voted for Trump, and the biggest voting block of all simply didn't vote.

I say this as someone who voted for Clinton: Fuck you for blaming Jill Stein (or anyone) for Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party not being able to motivate people. At this point anyone trying to blame the Greens and the left wing of the party for the centrists failing yet again really has got to shut the fuck up and move out of politics. You're bad at it.

Too bad Democrats won't step up and do what needs to be done. Then you could support them with confidence that your money would be well spent, on whatever Democrats spend excess donations on. Extra TV ads in the wrong states I guess. Not their fault; just saying.

But Democrats are afraid of looking bad. Like if they "gracefully" accept defeat Fox News and the Republican establishment won't lie about them any more. Conservative assholes will work with Democrats and be reasonable if Democrats cave now and make it easy for them. Oh, wait, remember the last 20 years? Remember how kind they were to Al Gore after he was so graceful? Yeah, me either. They kept on lying about him.

In North Carolina you don't see Republicans shy about exercising their legal right to a recount. What do they have to lose? The other party won't like them any more? Like they give a shit. If it works, you win, and there's no such thing as a sore winner. If you lose, at least you can hold your head up and say you really tried. One of the reasons so many people abandoned the Democrats for the Greens or Socialists is this exact shit right here. Won't even fucking try.

So yeah, Tricia. You sit on your ass and do nothing. Why even try? Stein and the Greens might be a little soft in the head, but at least they are willing to do whatever they can do. They don't give up just because the odds are against them.

Once again you create a nasty post; you don't really say anything significant.

Just hate hate hate; and you hate Jill Stein because you think she cost you the election. Goddamn you are dumb; you don't even understand that Hillary has > 2 million votes more than Trump

It has nothing to do with the popular count; it has to do with the Electorial College. Stop blaming the wrong people or in 2021 you won't have anyone in office either. Because the Republicans will still control the house and senate and they will draw the districts in their favor.

Before you blame the Republicans; Democrats do the same damned thing.

Realists: If you don't vote for Hillary, then Trump will win.

Commenters (and Kshama): LA LA LA LA LA LA I can't hear you! It's not true! LA LA LA LA LA LA LA.

Trump: I won, haha.

Commenters (and Kshama): HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN, WE DON'T UNDERSTAND BUT IT IS NOT OUR FAULT. ALL WE DID WAS NOT VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRAT.

If you want better candidates, then start working for it now. Don't complain in 2020 that your options suck.

The people that voted for Stein were NEVER going to vote for Hillary. You might as well blame the Trump voters, or the none-voters. AND Stein is not doing this for Hillary! She is doing this for election integrity.

Geez, give her time. The attorneys are working under an extremely tight deadline and the legal issues around filing the recount petition aren't as clear-cut as they may seem. I highly doubt that she'd intentionally not file the petition under the circumstances. That would completely undermine her platform, credibility and any future political career.

@6 what does that even mean?

@7 the deadline passed in one of the three states fifteen minutes ago. You done got grifted.

Someone is doing something. The DNC lost this election, if it was not fraudulent. And it is written out clearly what will happen with the money. Keep your couple of bucks, your liberalism, and your damn blog. Christ.

“The Commission is preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States, as requested by these candidates,” Haas said.

http://elections.wi.gov/node/4436

@ #8
https://mobile.twitter.com/DrJillStein/s…

i voted for jill stein. i'd vote for her again.

every vote that was for hillary could have been for jill. hillary supporters are what made jill lose the election. suck it.

There are so many falsehoods in this article.

"...Jill Stein took it upon herself to play the hero, launching a fundraising effort on Wednesday to file for recounts in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan."

The Guardian reported that the activists who approached Clinton about a recount also approached Jill Stein. Clinton, more worried about a "smooth transition" to Trump's fascism, refused to intervene, but Stein agreed. It's nice to see that The Stranger believes responding to experts concerns is egocentric, especially after the Democrats spent the entire election accusing the Russians of interference. You may find yourselves enjoying the rhetoric of a Trump Presidency more than you think.

"(Her vote tally in Michigan and Wisconsin would have helped elect Clinton, assuming most of those votes were from liberals.)"

That's a pretty big assumption. Considering the anti-establishment mood of the electorate, you can't assume that these people wouldn't just stay home or leave their Presidential vote blank if Stein wasn't on the ballot. If you had looked, the exit polls would have showed you that at least 60% of these voters would have stayed home instead.

You know what's an easier assumption to make? That Clinton would have won if the 9% of self-described Democrats who ended up voting for Trump had voted for her instead.

"Stein launched her bid Wednesday—at first asking for $2.5 million. Then, she moved the goal post to $4.5 million. Now, she's aiming for $7 million."

She mentioned that she was aiming for $7 million from the start. It was written in bold at the bottom of the donation page you didn't read. Each landmark is another state that has been fully funded.

Then, you conclude by quoting personal attacks from less-than-reputable websites. For all your lamentations about fake news, you certainly seem happy to generate your own.

The Democrats couldn't motivate 42% of the electorate at all, and you're blaming someone who got 1% of the vote in swing states? Up your game, Stranger.

@5- Idiots: WE GOT LESS TOTAL TURNOUT THAN IN THE LAST TWO ELECTIONS DESPITE OUR DEMOGRAPHIC SUPPOSEDLY GROWING IN SIZE BUT IT'S TOTALLY THE THIRD PARTY'S FAULT WE LOST!

>Clinton lost all of her filthy lucre after getting utterly wrecked by a celebrity businessman and now her only hope is an aged hippy woman's Kickstarter.

This is just sad.

I'm with @2, 3, 4

Instead of the usual "Stranger"-fueled lefty infighting screed, the article COULD have taken this approach:

"Remember that progressive populism that pushed an old, avowed Socialist to second place in the 2016 Democratic Presidential Primaries? What's that, you'd forgotten about it, ever since Bernie Sanders conceded to Hilary Clinton and endorsed her at the convention? Well, all that hope and energy had to go somewhere after Donald Trump's inexplicable Election Night rout, so it's no surprise that it's returned this week, in the form of Jill Stein's crazy-ass fast fundraising efforts for recounts in three Midwestern states. Of course all the people who eagerly threw tiny amounts monthly to Bernie Sanders (then -- most of them -- went ahead and voted for Clinton in the general) are willing to do the same now, even knowing this project is even more quixotic than that of electing a socialist to the highest office in the land. Even if most of the donors didn't vote for Jill Stein, they realize that parting with 20 or 30 dollars is less important than failing to advance even the POSSIBILITY of keeping Trump out of the White House in January. If these recounts actually add up to more votes for Trump in the end, well a little egg on our faces is worth knowing we at least took a magnifying glass to a very suspicious presidential election. With Bernie Sanders back in the Senate, where he will reluctantly "work with President Trump," who WHO -- WHO? WHO IS THE SALIENT PROGRESSIVE PROTEST VOICE? What's that? There's no one right now except faulty-ass Jill Stein? Well then, progressives, you better scooch your chairs up to the table and start slurpin' that tasty Jill Stein stew! Because complaining about what's happening back in the kitchen -- and what's the deal with the wait staff in this place? -- that's going to leave your head full of self-righteousness, true, but your hunger for action? That will still be growling long after the restaurant shuts off its lights and boards up its windows."

See, Dan! That's A Bizarro World "Stranger" tone that could come to be one day...

Ha! Who got grifted now, haters?

If by some crazy chance Stein saves America with this Hail Mary, you bitter haters are not allowed to exercise any of the rights asshole was going to take away. At least until you apologize and admit there are more than two parties and Party A isn't fucking entitled to any of Party B's voters. If you want Greens to cross party lines, you have to ask them nicely, and don't act like a little prick if they say no.

The consistent non stop Jill Stein hate in the Stranger is...strange. Is every political writer for this rag Dan Savage's little bitch or what?

At least Jill Stein is doing something after an election plagued with one Russian-led hacking scandal after another. I don't see Hillary doing much to help defend the country in its time of need, and I don't see Dan Savage or The Stranger or even the average reader of this paper doing much to help, either.

@2, 3, & 14 got it right. It's foolish & counterproductive to hate on Jill Stein at this point. She got the same info as HRC & Dems — pretty sure she was looking to them to take the lead, since it IS their candidate after all, & Dems have — ahem — considerably more resources to devote to this fight than the Green Party. Once it became clear that the Dems would refuse the opportunity to contest the election, Greens decided that SOMEONE ought to do it, so it was up to them as the only other party that had standing, so they had to raise a bunch of money to do it. Sad to see Stranger writers mocking, rather than helping, that effort.

Dear Tricia, Charles and Dan,

You sound JUST like Trump. In fact, Trump called the recount a scam, JUST LIKE YOU.

Even Clinton is supporting he recount. But you've decided that NOTHING that Jill or anyone else at the Green Party does can ever be right- even when you stand to benefit. You'd rather screw yourselves- and the entire country- than support a fight that could save us all.

WHY? Because to you (and most other Clinton supporters) this election never had a thing to do with the issues, or the country. It's always been about specific individuals- if you disagree with Hillary on a few issues, you can't just be a rational person who disagrees- no, you MUST be the devil. Nothing you say can ever be correct, because YOU don't support Hillary.

You whiny little assholes.

Now, listen, I get it, its so much easier to sit there and bitch than it is to get off your self-righteous ass and do something. But (and you do have a big butt, Dan) as long as someone else has the spinal column required to actually do something, then at least get out of the fucking way.

And fuck you, Charles.Being a member of the Far Left isn't just about logic. It's about passionately defending those who have nobody to defend them. It absolutely is not about abandoning the working class just because fighting for them would be too difficult. You should hang up your socialist credentials and stop using the term. No true socialist would be so quick to attack your comrades for standing up to a powerful fascist when nobody else is willing to. Do you think all those people died at Jarama just so you could spit at anyone who does something more useful than merely whining?

All three of you, your columns over the past few days almost exactly mirror Trump's speech this morning. I wouldn't be surprised if you fuckers wrote it for him.

PS, Jill doesn't need your single dollar, Trish. She's got close to 6 million of them as of the time I'm writing this. In a few hours, she'll have seven.

Wisconsin recount launched.

Looks like the money isn't being spent on chunky turquoise jewelry or weird cereal after all.

Maybe you should use that single dollar of yours to pay a fact checker before you publish.

Who knows? If you do that, maybe someday you might be mistaken for a real journalist.

@29, Maybe they'll mention it in their annual "Regrets" issue in December?

"We regret spending so much time and breath and print space stirring up unnecessary lefty infighting, and in 2017 we promise to cover national and local politicians and political candidates like Jill Stein and Kshawa Sawant less like the targets of school yard bullying and more like human beings just as deserving of respect and objective coverage as anyone else. And we also regret that our website's comment system is really archaic -- and that the site itself loads really slowly."

The difference between a liberal and a socialist is this. A liberal will pity your plight, shake their heads condescendingly and tell you that they wish they could help. They need the poor to stay poor, and they need the disadvantaged to stay disadvantaged. Without the poor and disadvantaged, liberals would have nobody to ding for donations, nobody to keep them in business. Marx commented on whiny self-described Marxist academics who merely analyzed situations without trying to fix anything, saying "If that is Marxism, then I am no Marxist".

A socialist, on the other hand, fights to change the system itself so the poor are no longer impoverished, and the disadvantaged are no longer disadvantaged. To again quote Marx, the philosophers until now have only tried to describe history. The point is to change it.

That's why Charles is not a real Marxist. However, judging by the actual change that Kshama, Bernie and Jill have been fighting hammer and tong to bring about, long after the liberals gave up the fight and reduced themselves to mere whining, we can see who the true socialists are.

As for Trish here, can we really call this journalism? This shows just about as much depth of thought as a Facebook meme. I mean, come on, who needs a newspaper like the Stranger if your reporting is so shallow, so vapid it could be summed up as a bumper sticker slogan?

I don't need Tricia to write crap like this. I can find this kind of bullshit on 4chan. Why should she get paid for something so basic it could've been written by a Macedonian teenager?

This is more dumb blaming the left for Hillary's loss.
If anything, it's the kind of thinking that led to Hillary losing the election. She felt like the votes of people on the left, the working class, minorities etc "belonged" to her because she was the establishment democrat. She didn't didn't have a message that was that appealing to those voters though.
I voted for her, but with reservations. Now I just think it's stupid to see people attacking the left as if it's their fault. Place blame where blame belongs.

@32

Yep, exactly. I know people want a quick(ish) fix and a short cut to unwinding the results. It gets the popular candidate in office and its an excuse not to examine all the reasons that the Democrats deeply fucked up on this one because like the 11th hour plot twist of a movie: IT WAS HIL ALL ALONG.

But even if this succeeds and it was Hil all along, it doesn't gloss over the fact that the Democrats still deeply fucked up. For all of our smugness about the Republican party's internal schisms happening in public, much like watching your parents have a knock down, drag out screaming fight in the middle of Costco when you're 12 - I have to wonder if their struggle is somehow healthier. Don't get me wrong, it's not healthy but just not as sick. The Democratic way is to keep these things out of the public eye and presenting a unified front. Even when the DNC scandal came to light, the reaction of most senior party members was to call rank in order to make it clear that as a unified party they were dealing with the problem swiftly. But really, all it did was move the scream fight to a back room where the fact that our own party is imploding along various lines and many seem oblivious or at least, in denial and focusing on what everyone else is failing at first.

We shouldn't tolerate election fraud but we also shouldn't open the door to a situation where ever after every election results are up for contested rejection by the side that lost. It's a dangerous game of chicken that we don't want to normalize. Instead, what we want to normalize is the slow, plodding, and painful kind of change that our electoral system needs which a quick fix will not help.

Why are people calling Dan out on this column? He's not the byline, y'all. Pay attention.

#5 wins.

Anybody who voted for Stein is a moron. Possibly dumber than the mouth breathers who voted for Trump.

I have no hate for the third parties this election - at least they voted.

People who didn't vote in this election are not welcome at my house.

Tricia you should stick to shitty dating websites and expensive dining, do us all a favor and put the pen down.