Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. running as an independent will throw the 2024 race into the open, strategists told The Post, predicting the scion of one of America’s most famous families will take votes from both major party candidates.
RFK Jr., 69, is expected to confirm his third-party bid on Monday, abandoning his previous affiliation with the Democratic Party, where some polls put him as high as 20% in the national primary against President Biden.
While an independent run will create some complications for Kennedy — including having to get his name on the ballot in every state — the party switch will end up being a boon for environmental lawyers and anti-vaccine advocates, said South Carolina-based Republican strategist Dave Wilson.
For Democratic-leaning voters, Wilson said, Kennedy would provide “the alternative they need” to the 80-year-old commander-in-chief.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke during the World Values Network’s Presidential Candidate Series discussing fighting antisemitism and fighting for Israel.REUTERS
However, Wilson added, Kennedy’s continued questioning of the COVID-19 vaccine could also alienate voters who would otherwise support the Republican front-runner, former President Donald Trump.
Polls show a large number of voters appear to fear a Biden-Trump rematch, with an Oct. 4 Marquette Law School poll showing 16% of registered voters would either vote for someone else in that situation or not cast a ballot at all.
Kennedy “will probably draw a little bit of both sides,” agreed Republican strategist John Thomas, who predicted Kennedy’s candidacy would draw more support than Biden’s, given the fervor of the 45th president’s “rock solid” base.
Kennedy has been criticized by family members and many in the Democratic party for his fringe positions on vaccines and the coronavirus.Getty Images
“I would imagine RFK Jr. is more of a problem for Biden as an independent than he is as a Democrat, because Biden can destroy him by ignoring him,” Thomas said.
“I think [going independent] is wise. He certainly won’t get the Democratic nomination,” agreed Jason Roe, a Republican strategist and former executive director of the Michigan GOP.
Roe added that Kennedy might “benefit more from center-right voters,” while another up-and-coming independent candidate, Cornel West, would draw more from the “progressive left that’s disaffected” with Biden.
Trump could face a tight race with Biden, with some national polls showing a virtual tie. Getty Images Biden is running for a second term with underwater support for his current presidency, according to polls. Shutterstock
Democratic strategist Brad Bannon predicts Kennedy won’t have “much impact at all” on the president’s share of the vote — especially not as much as West or potential candidates put forward by centrist group No Labels.
“If he has any impact at all, he will have the same impact on Republicans as Democrats,” Bannon said, citing Kennedy’s anti-vaccine rhetoric.
In addition to his independence announcement expected Monday afternoon in Philadelphia, RFK Jr. has also been invited to speak at an event held by the Conservative Political Action Conference later this month in Las Vegas.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
