Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein told Social Media Chimps on Wednesday that her campaign’s model for political action takes much inspiration from Tunisia and Egypt, where the youth of those nations last year defied all expectations and ultimately succeeded in changing the political climate, sometimes with deft utilization of social media tools.
Standing in New York’s Union Square after an Occupy Wall Street protest against student loan debt, Stein also noted social media’s capacity to circumvent the elements that favor a two-party political system. Coincidentally, as a politician from Massachusetts, the Green Party hopeful has actually gone toe-to-toe with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the past, debating with him in the 22 gubernatorial elections.
While the Green party primaries are still underway, Stein is clearly the frontrunner. She’s swept the first eleven primaries of the year, and earlier in the spring Noam Chomsky announced his support for her campaign.
Stein says she understands the significant role that social media will play in the upcoming election, which is why she intends to focus some of her campaign’s resources into that realm. She is currently looking to fill a position in her campaign to focus on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. A smart move, considering what she will most likely be up against.
Republican candidate Mitt Romney currently has a Facebook following of 1.6 million, as well as a Twitter following just over 46, President Obama is enjoying a Facebook following of over 26 million and a Twitter contingent of over 14.5 million. Stein has yet to build on her social media networking, with her Twitter following just under 3, and her Facebook family just over 8,3.