Robert F. Kennedy Jr. couldn’t possibly have picked a worse time to announce that he is leaving the Democratic Party to run as an independent.
On Monday, Americans were concerned far less with what could happen in a year and far more with the looming possibility of World War III. Any other week, Kennedy’s announcement in Philadelphia might have made headlines: The heir and namesake of a quintessential Democrat family leaves the party behind to forge his own path amid a family scandal — and, yes, there was a family scandal.
Just minutes after RFK made the announcement, four of his siblings published a statement denouncing his candidacy as “perilous for our country”:
The decision of our brother Bobby to run as a third party candidate against Joe Biden is dangerous to our country. Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment.
Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment. Today’s announcement is deeply saddening for us. We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country. @roryekennedy @joekennedy @KKT_Kennedy pic.twitter.com/WJfGwSxN1z
— Kerry Kennedy (@KerryKennedyRFK) October 9, 2023
Thanksgiving dinner is sure to be a charming affair in the Kennedy household this year.
You might begin to suspect, based on that statement, that the Kennedy family and the Democrat establishment they are a part of harbor concerns that RFK Jr.’s candidacy could pull votes away from Biden and the Democrat Party. The media, however, would have you believe otherwise.
Take, for instance, this headline from the New Republic: “Fox News Suddenly Turns Against RFK Jr. Now That He’s Independent,” in which TNR points out that Sean Hannity asked a few hard questions about Kennedy’s past liberal statements — and made RFK squirm a little. (READ MORE: Hillary Clinton Calls for ‘Formal Deprogramming’ of Trump Supporters)
Or there’s this headline from the Associated Press: “RFK Jr.’s independent run for president draws GOP criticism and silence from national Democrats.” The AP reporter claims there are “growing concerns on the right that the former Democrat now threatens to take votes from former President Donald Trump in 2024.”
What the headlines fail to report is that polls indicate RFK Jr. is pulling more voters from Joe Biden than he is from Trump. An Ipsos/Reuters poll published earlier this month found that Biden and Trump were tied at 35 percent in a two-way race. But when RFK was added to the picture, Trump gained a two-point lead against Biden, with Kennedy claiming a stunning 14 percent of the vote. (READ MORE: De Minimis at de’ Border)
Part of the problem for Democrats is that RFK Jr. represents an older kind of Democrat — the kind that, in his own words, “stood for the working class, that was skeptical of the military and industrial complex, that was skeptical about corporate control of the government, that was against censorship.” Kennedy puts into words many of the frustrations that Democrats have with their party.
What the Left may discover — if RFK Jr. can overcome the censors and get his message out — is that the average voter doesn’t particularly care for the rise of radical gender theory, abortion at all stages of pregnancy, and castrating kids. Instead, Americans want to go back to how it used to be.
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