Cornel West’s candidacy for president in his own words

This content is from Cornel West’s website

cornelwest24.org

Policy

“I am running for truth and justice and as a candidate for president of the United States in the Green Party. I want to reintroduce America to the best of itself – the dignity, courage, and creativity of precious everyday people. Join our movement for priceless poor and working people of all colors here and abroad.”

Create True Democracy

Clean out government corruption and create a true democracy. Get money out of politics and ban corporate lobbying. Enact term limits in Congress and switch to hand-counted paper ballots.

Revitalize Our Economy

Guarantee quality education, housing, a living wage, and paid leave to all. Curb inflation, support unions, and expand Social Security. Fix our infrastructure and forgive all student debt.

Medicare for All

Guarantee health care to all like every other major country on Earth. Ensure comprehensive care including dental, vision, hearing, mental, substance abuse, and long-term. Lower drug prices and abolish medical debt

End the Wars

Bring our troops home and invest those trillions of war dollars into American communities. Support veterans, stop all foreign military aid, close the bases, disband NATO, and ban nuclear weapons globally.

Expand Civil Liberties

Guarantee equal rights to all Americans. Restore free speech, press freedoms, and net neutrality. End surveillance, the drug war, and mass incarceration. Protect choice, stop CBDCs, regulate AI, and break up Big Tech.

Protect the Environment

Clean up pollution in our food, water and air. Tackle climate change and shift to regenerative agriculture. Remove oil and gas subsidies, end drilling on public lands, and invest in clean energy.

There is plenty to agree with here, but not much detail.

His campaign video, with West dressed up as Frederick Douglass, is available here:

He opens:

“In these bleak times, I have decided to run for truth and justice which takes the form of running for president of the United States. I enter in the quest for truth. I enter in the quest for justice. And the presidency is just one vehicle to pursue that truth and justice.”

And he closes:

“Do we have what it takes? We shall see. But some of us are going to go down fighting; go down swinging. With style and a smile. Accenting the best in you and trying to tease out the best in me. Let us do it together”

Personally, I felt as if defeat was baked into the very wording of speech. West implies that the best we can hope for is a noble failure that affirms values.

Whereas Kennedy’s videos suggest that change is possible and that we can do it together, I doubt that many will be inspired to join West’s campaign. Most critically, unlike Kennedy’s site and his videos, Operation COVID 19 is completely absent from West’s carefully selected words.

What do you think?