What Would a Third-Party Candidate Named Kennedy Mean for 2024?
Many Americans have long been dissatisfied with just two political parties in the U.S. As Americans become more politically divided, the stark contrast between the two major parties becomes even more stark. One party, which used to be seen as the party of the country club elites, has now, thanks in large part to the populist message of former President Donald Trump, become the party of average working Americans. “Make America Great Again” is not just a campaign slogan, it is a concept, a way of viewing America and its challenges. Democrats and the left like to pretend it is an insult. But in reality, it is only an insult if you are a Democrat or a leftist. Democrats have also done their share of morphing. Gone is the blue-collar, lunch pail union man that represented what the Democrat Party stood for in post-war America. They have been replaced with race-obsessed, climate change alarmists who believe there are more than two genders, and that socialism is fair. Are traditional Democrats a thing of the past, so much so that no other type of candidate but a radical one will be nominated by Democrats? With such two extremes, does it finally open the door for a third-party candidate?
A good person to ask might just be Democrat candidate for President Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy officially gave President Joe Biden a primary challenger when he threw his hat in the ring in April. But the Democrat party, built on the backs of countless Kennedys, has been anything but fair to RFK Jr. this time around. He has even accused Democrats of “rigging” their own primary process. Democrats have changed the traditional first-voting order of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The change is suspected to have taken place to give the state that put Joe Biden over the top for the nomination in 2020, a chance to pull off a repeat. If Iowa and New Hampshire do not go along with the process, they can be stripped of their delegates.
Democrats have recreated the process to obviously prop up Joe Biden, and that recreation doesn’t include a lot of fairness for either the candidates or Democrat voters. In addition to there being no Democrat primary debates, the new rules state that if any candidate runs in an unsanctioned New Hampshire primary, regardless of any victory, the candidate will receive no delegates. Similar fates could happen in Iowa. In Georgia, the Democrats will ban any candidate from the ballot who does not follow Democrat National Committee (DNC) rules. Add on the whole “super delegate” process, and Kennedy could very well be on to something.
In a recent interview with Forbes Newsroom, Kennedy appeared to state the obvious saying, “It’s pretty clear the DNC does not want a primary. I don’t want to say they want a coronation, but that’s a fair way to put it actually. Essentially, they’re fixing the process so that it makes it almost impossible to have democracy function. They’re effectively disenfranchising the Democratic voters from having any choice in who becomes President—in who becomes the Democratic nominee.” So, what is Robert Kennedy Jr. to do? Kennedy told several news outlets that he would have to consider “other alternatives.” The most likely of those alternatives would be running as a third-party candidate. Whether it is as an independent, on the “no labels” ticket, or anything else, it gives the 2024 presidential election a whole new dynamic. While he would be a longshot for the presidency, it would be a death knell for the Democrats. Think Ross Perot whistling “Happy Days Are Here Again.”
Third-party candidates peel off votes from Republicans and Democrats. It is the nature of the beast, it’s what they do. Republicans who do not like Donald Trump might find in Kennedy, someone they believe is not left enough to lead the country into socialism but might have enough of a hint of Trump policy about him. It’s Democrats that are afraid of a Kennedy candidacy and should be even more afraid should he run as a third-party candidate. Joe Biden’s poll numbers are in the tank, and the heir apparent, Vice President Kamala Harris’ numbers are even lower. Americans are tired of inflation, tired of being told the southern border is closed when it is plain to see it is not, being told crime is not skyrocketing when they can see that it is, and being told they will have to buy electric vehicles they neither want nor can afford. Democrats have serious problems on their hands for 2024, and they are too dumb to see that RFK is not one of them now, but very well could be should he run as a third-party candidate.
Robert Kennedy Jr. is a classic liberal Democrat. Like his uncle and father before him, he does not hate America and does not want to “fundamentally transform” it as so many on the left do. He is not a polarizing figure like Barack Obama and does not fall in with the likes of Bernie Sanders or the squad. And while many Republicans recognize that he still has a “D” after his name, he has many positions that those same Republicans find themselves agreeing with. The problem the left has with him is he is not radical enough.
Democrats had better get used to the fact that Robert Kennedy Jr. is not going away quietly. They will have to invent some new rule as they go along, that somehow disqualifies him from being a Democrat candidate at all. And at that point, all bets are off. Be careful what you wish for Democrats.
