Democrats are in full panic mode about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s independent presidential bid, and they got some rather troubling news on Thursday when Kennedy officially secured a spot on the ballot in the battleground state of Michigan.
"Michigan is the second state after Utah to affirm that his name will be presented to voters," reports the Associated Press. "His campaign or an allied super PAC say they’ve collected enough signatures in several other states, including the battlegrounds of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, but they haven’t yet been validated by elections officials."
If you want to pretend that this isn't a problem for Joe Biden, just look at the way Joe Biden trotted out the Kennedy family during a campaign stop in Philadelphia on Thursday.
It's no coincidence that the Kennedy family came rushing to a Biden campaign event the same day RFK Jr. secured his spot on the Michigan ballot.
It's been well established that the Kennedy family at large has been opposed to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s independent bid for the presidency., so their collective endorsement of Biden wasn't a surprise, but was a strong indicator that the Biden campaign is well aware of the threat that RFK Jr. poses to Biden's already troubled bid for a second term.
"We want to make crystal clear our feeling that the best way forward for America is to reelect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to four more years," Kerry Kennedy, RFK Jr.'s younger sister, said at the event.
Polls have shown that Kennedy has been able to attract both liberal and conservative voters, however, late last month, Kennedy picked leftist entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan as his running mate, a selection likely to turn off conservatives who'd been flirting with voting for Kennedy in November because they don't like Donald Trump. While many conservatives were willing to overlook Kennedy's left-wing positions in the past, his selection of Shanahan over a moderate or conservative alternative may be a deal breaker. Conversely, Shanahan's presence on the ticket could attract Democratic voters who are less enthused about casting their ballots for Biden.
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The Democratic Party appears to be concerned about this too. Immediately after Kennedy's announcement, the DNC held a campaign conference call with members of the media. During this call, prominent figures such as Rep. Robert Garcia, Pennsylvania Lieutenant Gov. Austin Davis, and Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow expressed apprehension about Kennedy's potential impact on Biden's chances of re-election.
"We are doing everything in our power to get President Biden and Vice President Harris reelected. It's critical that we take seriously every possible obstacle to that goal. And let me be clear, that's exactly what Robert F. Kennedy is in this election. He's a spoiler," Gov Davis said.
But, is Kennedy securing a spot on the ballot in Michigan a true boost for Trump?
Kennedy's staying power in this election has undoubtedly added a new layer of complexity to the upcoming election, and his impact in Michigan could be significant but also not entirely clear. Joe Biden is in real trouble of losing Michigan in November. In February, more than 101,000 Democratic primary voters in Michigan cast protest votes against Biden over his stance on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Trump currently leads in Michigan, a state he won in 2016 by roughly 11,000. However, Kennedy is strongly pro-Israel, which means that these protest voters aren't going to flock to him.
Polling in Michigan also shows Trump performs slightly stronger in a two-way matchup with Biden (+3.0.) than in a five-way matchup including Kennedy, Jill Stein, and Cornel West (+2.3).
So, he's still clearly taking from both Trump and Biden at this point, but that may change as the election progresses.
