There’s no presidential candidate quite like Dr. Cornel West. He’s a public philosopher, not a politician; he’s more inclined to speak of America’s challenges as moral conundrums than as policy failures. Instead of citing Washington and Jefferson on the stump, he quotes Stevie Wonder and Duke Ellington. And instead of strategically launching the first in-person rally of his campaign in Pennsylvania or Georgia or any other number of 2024 swing states, West touched down in Salt Lake City Monday night, on the eve of the city’s mayoral election.
The reason, West told a crowd of of about 200 at the University of Utah’s student union, is simple: the city is about to choose its mayor by ranked choice voting for the first time, a victory for democracy, per West’s view. He’d also come to endorse Michael Valentine, a 35-year-old activist facing off against an incumbent, Erin Mendenhall, and one of her predecessors, Rocky Anderson — each vying to become the leader of Utah’s most progressive city.
It didn’t hurt, either, that Utah’s relatively lax rules to get on a presidential ballot — you just need to get the requisite signatures and pay a fee — bode well for West.
“As you all know, we’re focusing on ballot access,” West said. “Utah is going to be the No. 1 state in my campaign that will put me on the ballot.” The crowd cheered.
West already wears many hats: a public intellectual, a pastor, a professor, a jazz musician. His newest one, that of “presidential candidate,” was an uncomfortable fit at first. He launched his campaign in June on the People’s Party ticket, but abandoned the group after less than two weeks. He then ran as the Green Party nominee, but by October, he cut ties with that party, too, in order to run as an independent.
“There’s such a moment of fluidity right now,” West told me. “There’s a general disenchantment with the establishments in both parties.”
We met a…
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