SoCal Man Goes on Fast to Convince Jill Stein not to Spoil Hillary Clinton’s Chances

SANTA MONICA, CA -- With less than a month to go before the Presidential election, a self-proclaimed peace activist in Southern California is going on a hunger strike to convince Green Party candidate Jill Stein not to be a spoiler for Hillary Clinton.

Jerry Rubin, 72 of Santa Monica, started his "Be Green, Not Mean" protest Friday in the hopes of convincing Stein not to actively campaign in "battleground" states where polls are showing a close race between Clinton and Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump. Rubin is not asking Stein to suspend her campaign, but rather, he is asking her to take a look at the big picture, he said.

This was not the first time Rubin went on a fast in hopes of influencing the outcome of a presidential election. In 2004, he went on a fast to convince Ralph Nader, who as running as in independent, to drop out as not to draw progressive votes away from Sen. John Kerry, who was running against Pres. George W. Bush. Many blame Nader, who ran at the time as a Green Party candidate, of costing Al Gore the presidency in 2000 -- a claim that has since been debunked by many political scientists and statisticians.

Rubin said the stakes of this year's election are too high to allow Trump to ascend to the presidency given his "divisive, unethical and unqualified candidacy." Rubin announced his fast well ahead of the audio tapes that were leaked Friday where Trump was heard claiming he could do anything to a woman because he's rich and "a star," among other things.

"This election is so very important to the direction that the country is going take -- in fact it's going to be a crucial election for our entire planet," Rubin said. "I certainly don't think that Donald Trump is qualified in any account -- morally, ethically and experientially."

He disputes the narrative from many progressives that choosing between Clinton and Trump is akin to choosing the lesser of two evils. Some progressives are planning to mount a protest vote by either voting for a third-party candidate or by not voting at all, which Rubin said is a mistake.

"I wholeheartedly agree with Bernie Sanders and many other progressives that this is NOT A TIME for a protest vote," he wrote on his Facebook page.

Rubin said progressives need to be pragmatic as well as idealists. They need to see the reality of the situation, which is a vote for a third-party candidate is a vote for Trump, he said.

"If you want to deal with realism, here's what's going to happen: The Supreme Court is at stake," he said. "If you don't think that's an important factor in deciding, I would urge them to think again."

Whoever the next president is, he or she will decide the next Supreme Court Justice and that could decide the future of our country for decades, Rubin said.

Rubin said he will only consume liquids from now until the election and, because of his age, he will end the fast if his health is in danger. He hopes that the fast will convince Stein to meet with him. He said he has a plan that could be a "progressive win-win strategy" for her other than being a potential spoiler by indirectly helping Trump.

Rubin is known for his fasts. He has done at least one a year for various causes. In 1997, he fasted for 26 days before collapsing to persuade Dreamworks SKG from relocating its studios to the wetlands.

Rubin is not the same person as the now-deceased "Chicago Seven" defendant Jerry Rubin, though the Southern California Rubin said he became friends with the '60s radical activist before his death in 1994.

Photo courtesy of Jerry Rubin