General Discussion

Stein was a Russian agent but Nader's Green Party wanted to change the status quo which at the time included Gore choosing the definitive DINO troll as a running mate. They proposed a New Green Deal over 20 years ago, which could have changed the course of climate change as surely as a Gore presidency could have. So sometimes people vote third party because they dream of a better world than the two-party shitshow system offers.

That being said, anyone who voted third party in 2016 is obviously an idiot. But the national party did itself no favor in putting Clinton up as the God-chosen candidate when nearly everyone outside the mainstream Democrats could see they put (argumentatively) the most hated woman in America against a populist tv star. That tone-deaf, my-way-or-the-highway decision - plus viciously deriding anyone who voted for Bernie in the primaries - is what killed the Clinton presidency, and I have seen very little self-reflection on the party's part to grapple with this.