Robert Kennedy Jr. - The Democrats Invisible Man?
America has seen its share of political dynasties. The Roosevelts, Bushes, and Clintons have all made their way through the nation’s political arena. But all of them do not even come close on the dynasty scale to the Kennedys. It seems as if there has been a never-ending supply of Congressmen, Senators, and presidential candidates named Kennedy. But they have been out of fashion, or supply for a while, until lately. Recently, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his candidacy for President of the United States and will challenge President Joe Biden for the Democrat party nomination. Kennedy is one of few in his family not to have run for or held public office. And while it is very difficult to unseat an incumbent president in a primary, even though it is very early, the way Democrats and the media are treating Kennedy may be a telltale sign as to exactly how they view his candidacy, and they do so very much, at their own peril.
To be clear, let’s not reach for the rose-colored glasses any time soon. Robert Kennedy is a Democrat, through and through. While he might not present as a woke socialist, he is a liberal in the classic Kennedy sense. He would advocate for a more transparent efficient government with, as his campaign website says, “more citizen involvement,” and while those may be good things, it is still a too big bureaucracy. He has not defaced any fine art with Campbell’s soup, or chained himself to anything, at least not that we know of, but he is most known for his work in the arena of environmental issues. Most Americans, regardless of their political stripe, can get behind clean water and clean air, but Kennedy also talks about curbing mining, logging, and oil drilling, and at least appears to allude to climate change, using the phrase, “the weather is wacky.”
What he may do however, is present a real problem to the Democrat party. Right now, Robert Kennedy Jr. is a longshot. The Democrat party machine is solidly behind Joe Biden, and will stay that way until health issues, or the fact that Democrats can no longer hide the fact that Joe Biden is senile, whichever comes first. And then, it would, likely, get behind Vice President Kamala Harris or California Gov. Gavin Newsom should he decide to enter the race. Here would be where Democrat voters would possibly throw a wrench in the whole plan, and actually cast primary votes for Kennedy. Even Democrats see Harris as a lightweight, and Newsom is not definite. New Age Guru Marianne Williamson has not gotten a clue that the party wants nothing to do with her. That leaves Kennedy, and if there was ever a guy who has spent his entire life around campaigns, Robert Kennedy is that guy.
Age is most certain to be a factor if there is a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. At the time of the 2024 election, Biden will be 82, Trump will be 78. Robert Kennedy clocks in at a youthful 69. Maybe not as young as a Ron DeSantis or Gavin Newsom, but still younger. And because he is not a raging Sanders or AOC-esque socialist, he espouses some positions that make moderate Democrats hiding in the closet, certainly some Independents, and even some Republicans who might not like Trump, but had already resigned themselves to holding their noses and voting for him because they would not vote for a Democrat, stop, and listen. But it is what Democrats are sure to ignore. Kennedy uses catch phrases like “big pharma,” and “big tech,” but unlike others in his party, appears to believe they are truly a problem. He does not appear to be a rabid ideologue on the most divisive issues like abortion, guns, and immigration. He recently told CNN that he is opposed to biological men playing in women’s sports saying, “I am against people playing in women’s sports who are biologically male. I think women have worked too hard to develop women’s sports over the past 30 years. I watched it happen and I don’t think its fair.”
But here is where things might get tricky for Democrats. Sixteen months out from the 2024 presidential election, a Fox News poll has Kennedy at 19%, an Emerson poll has him 21%. That is before there have been any trips to Iowa or New Hampshire, any official campaign events, or any debates. Those numbers are precisely the reason the Democrat National Committee recently announced that there would be no debates between Democrat presidential candidates. And again, Democrat primaries are where the true support for Joe Biden will reveal itself as Kennedy is sure to pick off moderate Democrats, anti-Trump Republicans, and definitely some Independents. History is also not kind to Democrats who get primaried by Kennedys. While Robert Kennedy’s Uncle Ted did not win the Democrat nomination away from Jimmy Carter in 1980, the challenge was a political mortal wound for Carter.
If Democrats do not have the proper amount of fear, their propaganda wing in the media certainly do. In addition to environmental issues, Kennedy has also been an outspoken critic of COVID vaccines and vaccine mandates. Not only did ABC News admit to editing some of Kennedy’s comments on vaccines during a recent interview, but journalist Linsey Davis also gave a disclaimer of sorts before she interviewed Kennedy, describing some of his vaccine positions as “misinformation” and “disinformation.” It is this failure to put blind trust in government officials and follow the party line that will have Democrats increasingly nervous about Robert Kennedy. Couple that with the fact that a recent Associated Press/NORC poll showed that 73% of Americans do not want Biden to run again. That includes 52% of Democrats.
Democrats may be hoping history will repeat itself in the form of a 2020 style basement campaign. What they may get is 1980 all over again.
