VP candidate for Party for Socialism and Liberation (2012)
Running mate with nominee: Peta Millner Lindsay (b. 1984)
Popular vote: 7,797 (0.01%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
In their second national election, the Party for Socialism and Liberation was already developing a tradition of nominating tickets that could never attain office due to Constitutional rules. It was a form of protest.
The 2012 team was a double-whammy in terms of being eligible for the White House. Presidential nominee Peta Lindsay turned 28 in the election year. VP Yari Osorio, who was a year younger than the standard bearer, was born in Colombia, arriving in the US at the age of 3 as an undocumented immigrant, later becoming a US citizen. Lindsay was a Masters student in Los Angeles aiming to be a teacher, Osorio worked as an EMT in New York.
To appease those states who would not grant ballot access to this ticket, 2008 PSL Presidential nominee Gloria La Riva was substituted. In Colorado, Utah and Wisconsin her running-mate was Filberto Ramirez Jr. and in Iowa the VP was Stefanie Beacham.
One of the Party brochures spelled out their platform--
SEIZE THE BANKS! Jobs, Healthcare & Housing for All!
PSL Lindsay/Osorio Campaign
10-Point Program
1 Make a job a Constitutional right Tens of millions are jobless and under-employed because the capitalists control employment. A decent-paying job must be a legal, guaranteed right. The minimum wage should be raised to $20 per hour and a living income must be guaranteed for those who cannot work.
2 Make free health care, free education & affordable housing Constitutional rights These are essentials of life and should not be run for- profit. Create a completely free and public health-care system. Make education free—cancel all student debt. Stop all foreclosures and evictions—end all mortgage interest payments to the banks.
3 Shut down all U.S. military bases around the world—bring all the troops, planes & ships home U.S. foreign policy uses the pretext of national security to enforce the imperialist interests of the biggest banks and corporations. That's what is behind the endless wars and occupations. Use the $1 trillion military budget instead to provide for people's needs here and around the world. Stop U.S. aid to Israel. End the blockade of Cuba.
4 Stop racist police brutality and mass incarceration More than 3 million people are behind bars in the largest prison complex in the world. Mass incarceration of our youth is the real crime. End the mass incarceration of oppressed communities. Fully prosecute all acts of police brutality and violence.
5 Defend our unions Support the right of all workers to have a union. Fight back against the attacks on collective bargaining. Pass the Employee Free Choice Act and repeal the Taft-Hartley Act. In the spirit of Wisconsin, rebuild a fighting-and striking-labor movement.
6 Equality for women and free, safe, legal abortion on demand Stop the attack on women's reproductive rights and defend Roe v. Wade. Women must have the fundamental right to choose & to control their own bodies. Women still earn 22 percent less than men, and the gap is even more severe for Black and Latina women. Close the wage gap and end the gender division of labor.
7 Full rights for all immigrants Abolish all anti-immigrant laws. Stop the raids and deportations. The government's war on immigrants must end. The border wall must be dismantled.
8 Full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people Make same-sex marriage a federal right—keep the movement in the streets. Fight anti-LGBT discrimination and violence.
9 Save the planet—End capitalism We need a central economic plan to significantly cut greenhouse gases, clean up the environment and build a massive renewable energy network. The for-profit economic system creates incentives to pollute. No fracking, no Keystone pipeline!
10 Seize the banks—Jail Wall Street criminals The banks' vast wealth came from the people's labor and tax-dollar bailout. Capitalist baninking [sic] is a form of organized crime, rewarding greed and fraud with obscene bonuses. These billionaires looted and destroyed the economy. It is time to seize their assets and use those resources in the interests of the vast majority. Power must be taken out of the hands of the super-rich, and the Wall Street criminals must be held accountable.
The combined vote total of all the PSL candidates was 9,405 (0.01%), 11th place. The Lindsay/Osorio portion amounted to 7,797 votes. Lindsay/Osorio could be found on the ballot in 9 states, with their strongest results in Vermont (0.23%), Arkansas (0.16%), and Washington (0.04%).
Election history: none
Other occupations: emergency medical technician, fire department paramedic, writer
Notes:
Osorio's PSL activity vanishes from my radar after 2016.
