RFK Jr. was always an awkward fit in the Democratic Party, his last name notwithstanding. He is a classical liberal of a mold that doesn’t largely exist anymore within the party ranks.
He is a true idealist with uncompromising principles, in my view, rather than the type of transactional Swamp goblin that currently dominates party leadership. Nor is he a cynical, burn-it-all-down, Western civilization-hating Social Justice™ warrior of the sort that makes up the most rabid and vocal subset of the base. Nor is he a Branch COVIDian — quite the opposite — which has made him the ultimate pariah to the party that is fully compromised by pharmaceutical industry cash.
So Kennedy’s announcement today of his switch to an independent run from the rigged Democrat primary comes as no surprise. It was a long time coming.
The lingering question is: will Bobby pull more votes as an independent from Trump (or whoever the nominee is if Trump is incapacitated by lawfare) or from Biden (or whichever puppet is tagged in to relieve the exhausted old war horse falling apart at the seams)?
Related: RFK Jr. STILL Pushing 20% in Dem Primary Polling Despite Constant Attacks, Censorship, Smears
Certainly, there is a portion of the Democrat base that will never vote for RFK Jr. because of his sensible approach to vaccines, as well as his skepticism of technocracy in general and his opposition to the “climate change” hoax, among other positions.
(Yes, many years ago, he made comments about locking up “climate change” deniers, but he has since acknowledged that his views at the time were misguided and that the climate change agenda is used as a technocratic power grab. People evolving in their views is not a sign of weakness but a sign of humility and a willingness to learn.)
There is similarly a portion of the Republican base that will never vote for RFK Jr. because they think he’s a raging communist or whatever. Of course, they are entitled to their views in that regard, but he is certainly no communist.
Frankly, though, I’d rather not be on the horse race beat. If parties and candidates want to earn votes, it’s incumbent upon them to offer platforms that entice voters. Full-stop. It is no one’s responsibility to direct votes to a particular candidate or party aside from the interested parties themselves.
If any party or candidate feels they will be harmed electorally by RFK Jr. running as an independent, my advice would be: do better. No citizen owes his loyalty to any party in a decent society; the inverse is true.
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