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Will RFK Jr. and other third-party candidates help doom democracy?
It’s tough to break the partisan duopoly without empowering spoilers.
www.motherjones.com
Don’t Ask RFK Jr. About Being a Spoiler
An interview with the independent candidate threatening to change the election’s course.
Should we care about RFK Jr. and his new running mate?
The Kennedy conspiracy theorist, his VP pick Nicole Shanahan, and their potential to upend the 2024 presidential election, explained.
www.vox.com
Back when he first announced, the prevailing theory among Republicans was that he'd split the democratic vote.
Democrats, at that time, largely rejected/downplayed that notion, and suggested that due to his stances on Ukraine and vaccines, he'd pull more away from Republicans (and cited selectively chosen polls to support that theory)
It now appears that the script has flipped, and some left-leaning strategists and outlets, are now expressing concerns about RFK Jr. spoiling the election for Biden due to his selection of running mate.
Per the NY Times:
This week, the Democratic National Committee formed a unit to push back against third-party candidates and independents. At the same time, a number of Biden allies have formed a super PAC called Clear Choice, which plans to do the same, signaling the seriousness of the potential impact of an outsider candidate.
One such candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is polling above 10 percent in national surveys and is well known for his family lineage.
Per Vox:
Kennedy is currently averaging about 12 percent in the polls, according to RealClearPolling. Celinda Lake, a pollster for President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign who continues to work with the Democratic National Committee, said that’s a worrying signal for Biden, based on polling and focus groups her firm has been conducting that suggest Kennedy will pull voters from Biden.
Democrats ramp up attacks on RFK Jr.: ‘He should be ashamed of himself’
Democrats are stepping up their criticism of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he announced his pick of Nicole Shanahan for vice president Tuesday, arguing the duo will benefit former President Trump.&nb…
thehill.com
And it would seem those concerns were amplified by his running mate selection. He picked a philanthropist, former Democratic donor, and wealthy activist who's focused on causes of women's reproductive rights, criminal justice reform, and environmentalism.
The fact that Biden's PAC and DNC operatives are forming task forces to squash independent candidates, and putting out websites to smear RFK, it doesn't sound like the DNC is quite as confident in their earlier assertion of "nothing to worry about, he'll pull more votes away from Trump"
I think my original theory still holds up...which was that the farther and farther removed we get from the covid pandemic, the less of a deal-breaker the anti-vaxxer aspect becomes, and at the end of the day, despite his vaccine attitudes, an anti-war, pro-gay rights, environmentalist is going to pull more votes from the left than from the right. (even more true now that he has a wealthy women's reproductive rights advocate at his side as his running mate during a time when abortion is quite the hot button issue)
