25 August 2016
Green Party and American Δ Party make MT presidential ballot
Updated at 4:20:36 MDT. Late yesterday, the Montana Secretary of State confirmed that the Green Party’s Jill Stein and the American Delta Party’s Roque De La Fuente will join Libertarian Gary Johnson, Republican Donald Trump, and Democrat Hillary Clinton on Montana’s general election ballot for President.
Stein is a retired physician with generally progressive views, but who also is maddeningly and deliberately vague on vaccination policy. Some commentators liken her to Ralph Nader, the consumer crusader whose run as the Green Party’s nominee in 2000 sucked enough votes away from Al Gore in Florida and New Hampshire that George W. Bush became President despite losing the national popular vote.
Stein could receive four to six percent of the vote in Montana if liberals, convinced that Clinton will be blown out by Trump, consider the election a free vote and thus an opportunity to make a statement. Her support will be strongest in Bozeman and Missoula, weakest in the little towns in eastern Montana.
De La Fuente filed for the Montana presidential primary as a Democrat, but did not appear on the ballot because his application was incomplete. According his biographical entry in the Wikipedia:
Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente filed his candidacy for President of the United States with the Federal Election Commission, filing as a Democrat. He identifies as a progressive Democrat. He says he was inspired to run after becoming dissatisfied with the slate of candidates, especially Donald Trump, whom he accuses of alienating large segments of the population.
On immigration, De La Fuente supports a path to citizenship and is against the wall proposed by Donald Trump.
De La Fuente has a degree in physics and mathematics. The upper case delta — Δ — is the mathematical symbol for change; thus “American Delta Party” is a clever way of saying “American Change Party.” He’s also the nominee of the Reform Party that Ross Perot founded.