If they believed their boy could win fair and square, then they should have let it happen. But for whatever reason Democrats were so concerned about Robert F. Kennedy Jr harming Joe Biden in a head-to-head battle that they did everything in their power to essentially eliminate RFK Jr as a candidate.
They tried to ignore him while letting their proxies attack him. They even stooped so low as to engage with his family to speak out against his campaign. But when he didn’t cave, they took the purely evil approach of intimidation by making him the first major candidate since the last assassination to not be granted a Secret Service detail. That last candidate to be assassinated was, of course, RFK Sr.
But through it all, they really had nothing other than drama to throw at him. Now, Kennedy is calling their bluff in the best possible way. According to Just The News:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will reportedly jettison the Democrats and soon announce plans to seek the White House in 2024 as an in independent candidate.
He is expected to make the announcement on Oct. 9 at a Pennsylvania rally, Mediaite reported. An adviser to the presidential candidate said his decision stemmed from what he considered unfair practices by the Democratic National Committee to stifle his candidacy.
“Bobby feels that the DNC is changing the rules to exclude his candidacy so an independent run is the only way to go,” one campaign advisor told the outlet.
At present, Kennedy averages 14.9% support in the Democratic primary to Biden’s 65.0%, according to RealClearPolitics. Hollywood guru Marianne Williamson places third with 4.9%.
Kennedy has long expressed frustrations with both the DNC and the Biden White House. In July of this year, he fumed at the administration’s decision to reject his request for Secret Service protection.
Running as an Independent means Kennedy will likely be on the general election ballots. Had Biden beaten Kennedy for the Democrat nomination, then Kennedy would likely have accepted that and not run as an independent. He has been very consistent with his stance that he wants a fair contest, but the Democrats have been equally consistent in their refusal to provide one.
Is Kennedy the next Ralph Nader, who many Democrats still blame for their 2000 loss to George W. Bush?
It seems that Kennedy is not trying to be a spoiler. Instead, by running as an Independent with some left views and some right views, he hopes to scrape off enough from both Democrats and Republicans to be a viable candidate. While the chances of that succeeding are unlikely, we’ve seen crazier things happening in the world lately. Dismissing Kennedy in the general election would be a mistake by either party, though clearly this benefits the GOP greatly if he’s able to sustain a solid campaign throughout.
