Report: RFK Jr. Planning To Run For President as Independent – Who Does It Help/Hurt?
Consensus even among key Trump social media influencers is that this hurts Trump: “RFK cant win but he can deny Trump the White House and hand it to Dems”
I haven’t paid much attention to RFK Jr. He’s been shut out of the Democrat Party process, where the powers that be don’t want a challenger to Joe Biden or whomever they select to replace him as nominee.
But RFK Jr. has garnered a fair amount of support according to early polling, though how many of those people answering pollsters actually would vote for him remains to be seen. He has spoken out strongly for border security and is very pro-Israel, which puts him at odds with the progressive wing of the party. He’s also an anti-vaxxer, which is a wild card issue IMO.
Regardless, he is pissed with the way he has been treated by the Democrat Party, and unlike Bernie Sanders who received similar treatment, he’s not just going to take it and say “thank you, sir, may I have another.”
According to Mediaite, RFK Jr. plans to announce he’s running for President as an independent:
2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to announce he will run as an independent on October 9 in Pennsylvania, Mediaite has learned.
Kennedy’s campaign machine is now planning “attack ads” against the Democratic National Committee in order to “pave the way” for his announcement in Philadelphia about running as an independent, according to a text reviewed by Mediaite.
“Bobby feels that the DNC is changing the rules to exclude his candidacy so an independent run is the only way to go,” a Kennedy campaign insider told Mediaite.
This video posted after the Mediaite article ran seems to support that RFK Jr. is likely to run:
Save the Date, Save the Country. #Kennedy24 pic.twitter.com/rSSs7flPKa
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) September 29, 2023
My initial and unthinking quick reaction when I heard about this was that it would hurt the Democrats. But as Mediaite notes, that’s not so obviously true:
The New York Times reported last week that he met with the chair of the Libertarian Party, raising the prospect of a departure from the party that decades ago became synonymous with his family name.
Kennedy remains far behind Biden in the polls. Yet while the Times reported “Democrats worry that a third-party run by Mr. Kennedy could draw votes away from Mr. Biden and help elect former President Donald J. Trump,” it’s unclear whether such a run would hurt the current president more than the Republican nominee.
Indeed, polls show Republicans have a far more favorable view of Kennedy than Democrats.
Some more reactions on who an RFK Jr. independent run helps/hurts, I’m seeing a lot of opinion that this will hurt Trump/Republicans:
If you think Dems are voting for the anti-vax, anti-Ukraine guy who has flipped on climate change alarmism and the Second Amendment, I've got a bridge to sell you.
RFK Jr. appeals to one demographic, and it's solidly on the right. https://t.co/Fqhq1j6XhU
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) September 29, 2023
If this does happen (and it's a big if!) it could easily backfire on the GOP nominee. Kennedy is significantly more popular among Republican voters than among Democrats. QPac poll found him +30 among GOP, -43 among Dems. Siena had him +36 among Trump voters, -35 among Biden. https://t.co/yc3RoxaoKr pic.twitter.com/Xf3IXf6Qs4
— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) September 29, 2023
I hope every conservative who amplified RFK Jr is happy – now he’s going steal votes from our nominee in the General
— Brendon Leslie (@BrendonLeslie) September 29, 2023
Even key Trump social media influencers think it will hurt Trump.
Dems aren’t voting for RFK after the vaccine became their holy sacrament
That’s why he’s been excommunicated from the mainstream party
He doesnt take many votes from Biden
But there’s a ton of his voters in swing states
States that Trump needs to win
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) September 29, 2023
RFK cant win but he can deny Trump the White House and hand it to Dems https://t.co/GSC3Tu2EAV
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) September 29, 2023
I was reporting on the vaccine freedom movement years ago.
All these moms love RFK JR.
It’s our friend group. They held dinners for him and Del Bigtree
They are otherwise Trump voters, they going RFK JR.
This isn’t up for debate.
I KNOW.
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) September 29, 2023
Give RFK HHS and get him out of this race.
— Raheem. (@RaheemKassam) September 29, 2023
One important barometer will be how viciously the Democrats and media attack RFK Jr. if he goes independent. If they do the media equivalent of Arkancide on him, then their internal polling is telling them he’s a threat to Democrats. If they go soft on him once he’s out of the party, or even promote him through proxies, then you know he’s harming Trump or whoever the Republican nominee ends up being.
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Helps Republicans as in real conservatives, he is a more even keeled Leftists loony
My Democratic friends were planning to vote for RFK Jr. RFK will be the choice for those who want neither Trump or Biden. I can tell you from personal observation….there are many of those voters out there.
Agreed about actual organic support v a sort of political flirting with this guy by some moderates who don’t want Biden but would rather not vote for Trump. IMO, by fall of ’24 things are gonna be worse, maybe much worse, particularly the economy and voters gonna have to vote their wallet and against Cray Cray d/prog policies; Trans ideology, reparations, open borders, anti family agenda and so on OR they can choose to get in their feels, refuse to vote for the GoP nominee (likely Trump) and throw away their vote on a 3rd party candidate which throws the election to 4 more years of d/prog power pushing those Cray Cray policies. This also goes for only Trump folks who threaten to stay home if Trump isn’t chosen as the nominee. Everyone gonna have to decide if their feels are more important than getting the d/prog out of the WH.
The other thing an independent/3rd Party on the ballot particularly one with at least some level of support does is to complicate potential ballot shenanigans. Far be it to accuse d/prog machine operatives of manufacturing or forging ballots.😇 (though even more recent evidence on the lack of signature match compliance seems to show it is much more than possible, even likely) but if one did want to do so in ’24 now they gotta figure out a different distribution of any ‘predetermined’ vote totals among more than two candidates and have that % distribution make sense in every State where a third party candidate is on the ballot. Not as easy as just printing off ballots b/c folks are far more alert to potential shenanigans so they gotta make sense collectively across similar States and similar CD. Not nearly so easy to do that.
I agree. I see the same thing happening here in Iowa, my home state and first in the nation caucus. People here really want someone other than what the 2 establishment anointed old baby boomer geezers are being offered to us. This goes for Democrats and Republicans. alike. I have been a member of my local Republican Party Central Committee for almost 30 years, and this is very real. As a conservative Republican I would vote for Trump instead of Kennedy, but this is a very real threat to Trump in Iowa. It’s way too early to say how this will play out, but Iowans will be paying very close attention to this. Put another bag of Orville Redenbacher”s Movie Theater Butter popcorn in your microwave, and pop open another Coors Golden beer, and welcome to the roller coaster ride.
I don’t agree that if they don’t want to vote for Trump they will vote for RFK. Trump may be an ass but his views are much more in line with the right than anything RFK jr has ever spoken. Other than questioning the warp-speed vaccine, he is a gun control, open borders, climate change, full abortion loon. Joe Liberman is forming a third party and is looking for someone who will appeal to both sides like Youngkin of VA. Then you will be looking at Trump losing votes.
Trump’s own views aren’t any more in line with the right than RFK’s. And yet, since he isn’t a man of principle, when he became president and the left rejected his overtures he fell in with the right and governed like a conservative, for the most part. If RFK is equally unprincipled the same thing might happen to him. You never know.
The more worrying thing about RFK is that he seems like an actual lunatic, whereas Trump, for all his flaws, seems sane.
He should expect the DOJ to be seeking an indictment in the near future. The IRS won’t be far behind.
Say hello to Mr. Deep State, Junior.
My curiosity is about whether as a candidate for a 3rd party if Biden will allow him Secret Service protection. Remember, he has been the target of what can reasonably be construed as an assassination attempt already, and was saved by his private security. AND so far in the last couple of weeks since it happened there has been no news about the attempt. As if maybe the Federales aren’t pushing too hard on it . . . and the media does not seem to care. Hmm.
Subotai Bahadur
I don’t see why they would. I’m pretty confident that they have never provided Secret Service protection to any Libertarian presidential candidate. In fact, the Republicans tried to hound Andre Marrou out of his reserved hotel room during the debates because “Bush needs to secure one floor up and one floor down,” and he had to threaten a Third Amendment(!) lawsuit to get them to desist.
Third amendment wouldn’t work any more, because the USA is currently at war, so the 3A is suspended. Not that anyone has noticed.
So, Nowhere Man vs Warp Speed Vaccine Lover vs Crazy Anti-Vax nut. No wonder I’ll probably do a write-in
A write-in is a vote for biden.
More likely Gruesome or Mooch
Agree! Biden will not be on the Dem ticket.
Most of the liberals and libertarians I know are looking at RFK over Biden, if they only have a choice of Biden they have said they will write in a candidate.
Now would be a great time to have access to the polling that’s not published.; the private polling or the parts of the public polls that aren’t disclosed. The national polling will be completely useless. The only way to see what impact RFK will have is to review good-quality polling in the key battleground states, any state that was won by either party by less than 10-points, which I believe is roughly 16-states.
I would be interested to see polling that considers a Dem nominee not named Biden (because I don’t think he’ll actually be the nominee) as well as RJK and Trump. I think if there’s a younger Dem nominee instead of biden (like Newsom or Whitmer), RFK probably hurts the GOP more than the Democrats.
IMO the same thing applies if there were a younger Republican – RFK Jr. would pull more votes from Biden. Ross Perot got 19% of the vote against Bush and Clinton, neither of whom had large “anyone but” factions. If he is on the ballot in every state and has enough money, he could hit 20%.
How he campaigns will matter. If he ignores Trump and puts forth a sound policy agenda against the lunacy of the Biden administration, as if he were the only alternative, I think he could be effective at taking Democrat votes. If he were to start polling 25-30% in a bunch of states, people might start asking themselves if he is worth consideration for more than just a protest vote. Pick Tulsi Gabbard as a running mate – the contrast with Harris would be stark.
Yes, I think that’s probably true too.
I like your thoughts on this so maybe you should send Bobby a message!
The idea that RFK Jr. hurts Trump is wishful thinking. That’s why the Times and others are out front spinning that narrative. No Trump supporter will jump to RFK Jr.. If conservatives have a favorable opinion of RFK, it is because he challenges the insane orthodoxy of the democrat party and we like that. And he hurts Biden. We like that a lot. But as long as Trump is around, he will get the conservative vote.
IMO if RFK Jr. is serious about winning, his strategy should be as follows. Assume Republicans, Democrats and Independents each have about a third of the vote. He should go for 10% of Republicans, 67% of Independents and 25% of Democrats. That gets him 34% of the vote. Given how the Covid “vaccine” turned out, his past anti-vax positions can be painted as prescient. But, his unfortunate verbal disability may not help.
No one who is reasonably intelligent and (minimally) possess a rudimentary understanding of the math of the Electoral College who runs as an Independent is ‘serious’ about winning. Why? Because it’s mathematically impossible in our current political climate to actually win. There are simply too many states that are either deep red or deep blue that make them noncompetitive for any Independent candidate. Remember, to win you must get to 270 Electoral Votes. The most ‘sucessful’ 3rd-party candidate in the last 120+ years was 2x former Republican President Teddy Roosevelt in 1912. While running as a ‘Progressive’ and carrying 6 States, he won 88 Electoral Votes (of the 266 needed to win in 1912).
In 1968 – a year that is sadly memorable for RFK – George Wallace was the 2nd most ‘successful’ 3rd-party candidate when he carried 5-states and their 46-EVs for the Dixiecrat party (or whatever it was really called). A couple dozen years later in 1992, Ross Perot running as an 3rd-party candidate won the greatest share of the National Popular Vote (18%) since 1912…and carried ZERO states and won ZERO Electoral Votes.
RFK could win a third of the vote – as you suggest – which would be historic. But, because of the way the Electoral College works combined with how polarized the electorate is in roughly 30-states, there simply aren’t enough EV available to him to win.
The absolute best RFK or any Indie candidate could do is carry enough states to win enough Electoral Votes to keep someone else from winning the requisite 270 EVs. This would then throw the election to the new House of Representatives to decide. As I said, no serious person believes they can actually win because the math speaks for itself.
I believe that the electoral college has been designed and shaped over many decades to only allow one of the major corporate parties to win. My understanding is to even get on the ballot in many states, signatures must be obtained and verified for an independent to run. That seems to be a major hurdle to become a viable breakaway candidate from the corporations.
In reality, the Electoral College (a term that doesn’t actually appear in the USC), has only changed once and that was with the 12th Amendment. Most people don’t realize that nowhere in the USC is there a provision for PEOPLE to elect presidents. People don’t elect presidents, states do. Hamilton didn’t even want that. He and several others essentially lobbied for Star Chambers in the Federalist Papers. But, that was largely rejected and we ended up with voters selecting Electors to represent their respective states with the Electors then electing the president and vice president…independently, which was remedied with the 12A.
Shortly after adopting the USC – which was NOT created with the premise of various political parties, much less a distinct 2-party system – the problems with an EC and a two-party system, became more clear. Personally, whatever shortcoming the EC has I believe are outweighed by the benefits it provides. If we migrated to a NPV system, candidates would campaign in 10 or 15 states and ignore the rest of the country.
With respect to the gathering of signatures, keep in mind that it’s the same for major party candidates. They must gather signatures in order to get on their respective primary ballots. Over the last couple hundred years, we really haven’t had any problem fielding more than the two major-party candidates for president. The Libertarian Party usually qualifies in all 50-states and in several election cycles in the last several decades, we’ve had many elections where we had multiple candidates qualifying for ballot access in all 50-states. 1980, ’92, ’96, 2000, ’08, ’12 16, ’20 all saw General Election ballots with more than three candidates qualifying in all 50-states or at least in enough states to theoretically win the Electoral College.
The Dixiecrat party was called the American Independent Party.
Interesting observations. I agree that RFK might just be able to throw an election into the House. But then what, given its current makeup, unless that changes materially in Jan 2025?
I think that the Indies are the secret weapon for any candidate. Right now they are a larger group than Rs or Ds. Most of them are not hot heads looking for revenge but a calm stable leader to get us out of the mess we are in. He would also get a lot of Dem votes but not very many R votes. With the right campaign and funding, he could be a real threat to Biden.
There are a lot of “moderate” Dems in both parties who have finally figured out that Trump is a loser. He’ll get a lot more support from former-Trumpers than you think.
To an extent yes but IMO, these wishy washy former Trump voters were already lost to Biden in ’20. They were likely part of the 10 million Obama voters who jumped on the Trump train in ’16 but had second thoughts for whatever reason(s) in ’20 when they pulled the lever for Biden.
Unfortunately you really bet that. President Trump won in2020 and the election was stolen
That’s just the truth
gonzotx,
You do realize that wishy washy sorts who jump from Obama to Trump can just as easily jump away from Trump to the image of moderate Biden created in ’20 and sustained by complaint media allies?
You should also realize that the departure of those Obama voters from Trump to Biden does NOT undercut the argument that the d/prog engaged in shenanigans, that ballots were manufactured for Biden in various ways and dumped in ’20. There was a huge up tick in vote totals in ’20 even above that of ’16 and in some precincts approaching 95%+ which is ….fishy at best. Then there’s the lack of adherence to election security and ballot integrity measures or in some places simply ignoring those requirements wholesale.
Both of these things; Obama voters to Trump back to Biden and d/prog shenanigans can be true simultaneously and IMO are very much true to varying degrees.
You are talking like a msm pundit. I’ll bet there aren’t even a handful of once-Trump voters who voted for Biden. They are like black and white. Polar opposites and if you ever voted for Trump there is no way to talk yourself to vote for Biden. He has been a liar and a grifter his whole career with not one single accomplishment in his life.
There is a HUGE difference between ‘have a favorable impression of’ and ‘willing to actually vote for him’.
Just because a lot of conservatives approve of him, and like the fact that he’s bucking the left on a lot of things, doesn’t mean they’re willing to throw their votes away on him.
And anybody that was actually willing to pull the lever for him was almost certainly not going to pull it for Trump in a 2 man race anyway.
Those Dem voters that approve of him ARE actually willing to vote for him over Biden.
Not an obvious risk for dementia during a four-year term
Not under investigation by Congress
Speaks in coherent sentences
Not under multiple federal and state indictments
Not associated with Anthony Fauci
That checks a lot of boxes for a lot of voters in both parties
Hard to predict if RFK Jr. hurts Trump or Biden more, assuming those are the inevitable nominees. I am inclined to think he hurts Biden slightly more.
That’s just incorrect. If you are a serious voter and actually look at where they stand, there is no way a Republican could ever vote for RFK. He is a hardcore leftist loon with no conservative values AT ALL. You name it and he is against it from our side. Gun control, no abortion control, open borders, climate insanity, no fracking, wind farms, and solar nonsense, no school choice and the list goes on. If he gets any R votes it will be Trump hatred like Hillary got.
As an Independent (Libertarian leaning) who has voted the Republican side since Reagan (I was too young to vote in a presidential election prior to that) there is no way I would vote for anyone who believes in climate madness, “common sense“ gun control (confiscation), open borders, and many other issues.
I will vote for a president who is pro-American and pro-Constitution (the closer to wholesale round up and deportation of all illegal aliens the better); seeks to improve America by supporting our manufacturing and energy independence; open to the immigration of anyone in the world who will embrace and adhere to our immigration laws and our ideals (to include those who seek employment for seasonal work or temporary jobs); someone who isn’t interested in selling our country out to the highest bidder for graft, bribes, lining their own pockets, or for a global alliance that fails to support American sovereignty
I am not looking for a priest, a pastor, someone to date and bring home to mommy, or anyone who has to pass some purity test. In fact, I would support someone who is nasty, boisterous, resolved, and will push back against any world leader who seeks to undermine our country.
That person does not have to be all of the above, but pro-American and Constitution are the two base requirements.
RFK Jr is not on that list.
He won’t get any Republican votes, but a lot of the Trump voters, particularly the Trumpalos like the ones we see here, aren’t Republican. They might easily be swayed by an RFK.
I think there are a lot of traditional Dems and Liberal Independent voters that don’t like Biden corruption and the woke agenda but would never vote for Trump. They would very likely vote for RFK Jr.
I also think that there are a fair number of GOPe voters that would vote for him as well as they would never vote for a conservative or populist and certainly not Trump.
I don’t think it hurts Trump much if at all but would certainly hurt Biden or his replacement.
The fact that the mainstream press is pushing it will hurt Trump tells you it is false. If they thought RFK would hurt Trump they would promote him 24/7.
The Muh Principles wing of the Republican party will vote for RFK if Trump is the nominee.
Liar.
A lot of them voted for Biden last time, so why WOULDN’T they vote for Kennedy??
No they didn’t. President Trump won.
One toilet ,. 5 states shut down and the rest is history
It amazes me anyone, anyone with half a brain still thinks Biden actually won
I’d like to see your source for that claim, because I have never seen anything to support it, and you make it constantly. Trump got 16 million MORE votes in 2020 than he did in 2016. That hardly supports your contention that any of his supporters jumped ship to the Dems.
I badly misinterpreted your post and need to apologize.
I initially misinterpreted your post as claiming that those who refused to vote for Trump because he is too far left would vote for someone even farther left. This is a self-contradictory statement and triggered my response.
I now realize you actually meant that RFK is less lefty than Trump and I apologize for my mistake.
I live in Cheshire County New Hampshire, it is in the top ten blue counties in the country and NH is also listed by some sources as a swing state and still holds the first in the nation primary that this coming year will be in January. I am seeing Kennedy signs popping up on the lawns of the usual Dem political activists.
Too bad that Pat Paulson is dead.
Listened to him on Rogan and he is an interesting guy who raises a lot of questions The Cathedral doesn’t like but he is a leftist through and through. Republicans, real ones and not the RINO anti-Trump faction will not vote for him once they learn all of his positions. The people who will vote for him wouldn’t vote for Trump anyways
The Cathedral …..nice to see that term make an appearance.
Any kind of event can and is spun to be damaging to Trump. The talking heads (pundits) told me this RFK move would definitely damage Trump’s chances at at a second term. Then I changed the channel and those pundits said that it would damage the already feeble incumbent. So take your pick. Having full accreditation as a Maga cult member, I will not be swayed by any facts or reason.
Kudos to Leslie for having Democratic friends. I had one, but we moved.
Subotai Bahadur: My curiosity is about whether as a candidate for a 3rd party if Biden will allow him Secret Service protection.
There’s a bipartisan government committee involved in making those decisions. See 18 U.S. Code § 3056(a)(7): “Major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates . . . Secretary of Homeland Security after consultation with an advisory committee consisting of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the minority leader of the House of Representatives, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate, and one additional member selected by the other members of the committee.”
Note the clever use of the word “bipartisan” as if it meant “nonpartisan.”
It doesn’t.
It’s a clever ruse that the average citizen never even notices, unless he has ever registered Green, Libertarian, etc.
How many citizens are aware that the “official” presidential debates are not “run” by the government? They’re run by the Rs and Ds… they’re just paid for by the government. What a sweet deal.
Other parties have to hold and pay for their own debates. No grift for the out-crowd.
henrybowman: Note the clever use of the word “bipartisan” as if it meant “nonpartisan.”…
We didn’t imply it was non-partisan but specifically said it was bipartisan. Not sure your point. Do you think McCarthy, Jeffries, Schumer, and McConnell are in cahoots to deny Kennedy secret service protection, or is it simply that he isn’t a major presidential candidate at this point? None of the other candidates have secret service protection, except for Biden and Trump, because they are President and a former president respectively. Not even DeSantis has secret service protection. While we support providing Kennedy secret service protection due to the unique circumstances, he doesn’t meet the current criteria. There is no exclusion by party affiliation.
Since when does the government pay for the debates? As far as I know the debates are held and paid for by the Commission on Presidential Debates, which is a non-profit corporation run by the two major parties.
(Test)
Truth is, the party is over, this is all a pony show.
The Uni Party has successfully overthrown the 2020 Presidential election with their 2020 coup d’état, they have imprisoned or cancelled anyone who challenged their narrative that the 2020 election results clearly showed Biden as the winner, they stole the 2022 midterm elections, and they have ceased power; power which they will never relinquish.
We lost the Republic Mr Franklin
I don’t know if it’s lost…yet. But, it’s undeniably true that the Republic will be over if we elect someone in 2024 who’s not willing to enforce the border and begin deportations in earnest. If more ominously, if Democrats win the White House and somehow manage to keep the Senate and win back the House, in the first several months of the new Administration, they’ll nuke the filibuster, enact amnesty and likely pack the court…and nothing can stop them. While they may pay a small price in the 2028 Midterms, in 2030 all those tens-of-millions of illegals who were were granted Amnesty will be close to being eligible to vote. After that, the Democrats will enjoy a permanent governing majority in Texas and possibly Florida & Georgia (which has seen a MASSIVE influx of illegal Latinos & Asians in the last decade) and that will be that. Venezuela, here we come.
Dem voters are about as deep as a rain puddle in a drought…. The Kennedy name alone will be enough for those Dems voters sick and embarrassed by Biden…..
Maybe I don’t play enough 4D chess, but my take on this is that an independent or Libertarian RFKJ on the ballot would provide an escape hatch for millions of wool-dyed Democrats who wouldn’t vote R even if Jesus were on their ballot, but just can’t stomach being forced to pull a lever for Alzheimers Brandon anymore.
Plus, no matter what he thinks about vaccines, he’s a Kennedy, for heaven’s sake. Camelot! Jackie O! Marilyn Monroe! Democrats love their dynasties; as today’s Tories, they all secretly yearn to be ruled by royalty, even if they deny it most loudly to themselves.
That’s the way I read it too. He won’t appeal to any group except disaffected Dems and Indies. No “Thinking” R would ever vote for him and I think the Trump haters just won’t vote. Even Trump haters are not that stupid. Trump has the ability to make people hate him with such regularity that I am amazed he has so many followers. But inside, the Trump haters are still good conservative people and would never vote for RFK.
You are assuming Biden is going to be the nominee.
What you should be asking is how will RFK affect voters with Newsom as the Democrat nominee. Now the whole landscape changes as no Democrat voter will go for RFK, leaving only independents and Republicans for RFK to appeal towards.
All RFK does is give a satisfying alternative to the Never Trump voters, such as the editors on LI and National Review.
I am still not convinced Brandon will make it over the finish line. The drumbeat of replacing him is getting louder by the day. Even James Carvell launched a warning shot across the bow with “someone better wake the **** up over there”
Forget policy. It’s about personality and perception. He’s the outsider that Dems can back without backing Trump. He’s a Kennedy, which carries a lot of weight with Dems. There are a troubling number of Republicans enamored with Kennedy because they like an issue or two, but I don’t think that he can attract enough to make a difference against Trump (assuming he’s the nominee). I think it will hurt Dems more than the GOP.
“There are a troubling number of Republicans enamored with Kennedy because they like an issue or two”
If I were a sneaky, underhanded SOB (and I can be when I try) with money (oops), I’d commission a bunch of ads emphasizing RFKJ’s progressive pronouncements (e.g., on the gun issue, he’s every bit as “common sense” as Castro or Lula) as if they were pro-RFKJ ads, but with the agenda of making sure he’s poisoned to any conservative who may be flirting with him.
Don’t worry, he’ll probably run those ads himself.
Can RFK Jr. win a state or two? It could throw the electoral college into the House, which could prevent pro-Biden cheating from putting him over the top this time. And the House is Republican controlled now. Is it the current House or the next one that would resolve the presidency?
It’s the next House. And the voting is by state delegation.