Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has dropped his candidacy as a Democrat to run as an unbiased for President of the US
On Monday, Robert Francis Kennedy Junior introduced that he was dropping out of the presidential election race as a Democrat and can be as a substitute working as an unbiased candidate.
His announcement was not a complete shock after the Democratic institution and even a few of his personal siblings blasted the candidate for working towards Joe Biden. The Democrats shut out RFK Jr.’s candidacy within the media and YouTube has pulled a few of his interviews off the platform.
The Biden administration has additionally denied RFK Jr.’s request for Secret Service safety, regardless of his marketing campaign having submitted a report detailing credible dangers “except for commonplace dying threats.” As per a CNN explainer, there was no foundation for giving him such safety, given that he’s not deemed a “main” candidate and it’s too early within the election cycle to take action anyway – besides a precedent exists, the place Senator Ted Kennedy, an uncle of RFK Jr., was given Secret Service safety earlier than he even introduced his 1980 candidacy. That call was justified by the truth that two different Kennedys – president John Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy (RFK Jr.’s father) – have been each assassinated within the previous years – a household historical past that RFK Jr. additionally shares. Just lately, a person with a loaded gun, impersonating a US Marshal, was arrested with weapons at a RFK Jr. speech. Nonetheless, the Biden administration wouldn’t budge. The Democratic Nationwide Committee circled its wagons round Biden, ignoring Kennedy whereas apparently conserving [California Governor] Gavin Newsom within the wings as a placeholder to interchange Biden.
RFK Jr. is working on his household title and the general public’s determined want for a political hero. He has a powerful observe document of preventing environmental air pollution and calling out the greed of Huge Pharma. He requires a pushback towards corruption within the intelligence group and the battle machine of the navy industrial complicated. He makes use of the buzzwords that enchantment to individuals fed up with the path of America when he talks about abandoning the uniparty, defending free speech, stopping infinite wars and holding corrupt politicians accountable.
All that is what the politically homeless from each events wish to hear. But it surely is sufficient to win the 2024 presidential election? Whereas RFK Jr. calls out the elite institution, he’s most actually part of it.
His son Conor fought for Ukraine in its present battle with Russia. His daughter in regulation works for the CIA. His household might be the second-most politically well-known after the British royalty and his gritty Irish American roots preventing for the working class are a long time behind him.
One other sign of RFK Jr.’s actual alliances is obvious in his condemning speech in regards to the latest Israel/Palestine violence. He used phrases like “unprovoked assaults” and made it clear he stood with Israel regardless of the tragic variety of Palestinian civilian deaths. As an alternative of calling for peace, he flies with the neoliberal and neoconservative hawks. His place induced outrage from the antiwar each left and proper.
The query stays, does his candidacy even matter? Polls for Biden stay dismally low, hovering at an approval ranking of 30%, and Trump nonetheless has his robust help base, not too long ago galvanized by his arch-enemy Hillary Clinton publicly calling MAGA supporters “cult members” who want “deprogramming.” However then she was by no means capable of learn the room.
In keeping with RFK Jr. he hopes to drag votes from each Biden and Trump. His final affect on the logistics of the election stays to be seen. Many third-party candidates get their names faraway from the poll or aren’t allowed to run in any respect. American Values 2024, a brilliant PAC supporting Kennedy, says it raised over $11 million inside six hours after he introduced his swap to an unbiased candidacy. Many supporters see him as a truth-teller and an outsider maverick even together with his well-known household title.
In keeping with latest nationwide polling, one out of each seven voters backs Kennedy. In an election with excessive voter satisfaction that’s vital. In keeping with a latest ballot by Gallup, a whopping 63% of Individuals desire a third-party candidate. Whether or not all of those elements will translate into extra votes pulled from Trump or Biden stays to be seen.
Nevertheless, one factor is obvious – there will likely be enormous obstacles for all of the candidates to clear to get previous Biden’s elite defenses. For Trump, it’s his 91 felony expenses and numerous gag orders because the institution tries to remove opposition for Biden. For Kennedy, its the media suppression and the potential efforts to maintain his title from the poll, on prime of the standard uphill battle confronted by each third-party candidate.
In the end, within the smoke and mirrors of the political theater that’s an American election, RFK Jr. might placed on simply sufficient of a present to offer voters what they lengthy for – a plausible phantasm of selection – with out truly endangering the uniparty institution he so dramatically opposes.
The statements, views and opinions expressed on this column are solely these of the creator and don’t essentially characterize these of RT.
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