El País (USA)
"In battleground Arizona, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. draws Biden and Trump voters united by distrust"
Story by AP Associated Press
26 DECEMBER 2023
Some voted for Donald Trump, others for Joe Biden.
A few had never wanted anything to do with politics before they heard Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on a podcast or YouTube video.
Lined up outside a Phoenix wedding hall tucked between a freeway, a railroad track and a U-Haul rental center, the hundreds of people who turned out Wednesday to hear Kennedy speak shared little in common ideologically.
What united them was a deep-seated distrust — of the media, of corporations and especially of the government — and a belief that Kennedy is the only person in politics willing to tell them the truth.
“I like that he talks to us like adults,” said Gilbert Limon, a 48-year-old pharmacist from Phoenix.
“He tells you the majority of what you need to know."
"Whereas I feel like (other politicians) just give you bits and pieces to try to fit their agenda."
"I’ve had enough of that.”
Voters are not enthusiastic about a Biden-Trump rematch, and alternatives like Kennedy or the No Labels third-party movement, which would typically be longshots, see an opening.
Kennedy’s appearance in a 2024 battleground state highlights how he could influence the election in ways that are tough to predict.
Allies of both Trump and Biden have expressed concerns that Kennedy’s independent bid could pull votes from their candidate in next year’s expected general election rematch.
Candidates from outside the Republican and Democratic parties rarely make a splash, if they can make the ballot to begin with.
But third-party candidates don’t usually carry a famous last name like Kennedy’s, or his existing network of supporters.
Kennedy made the stop in Phoenix as part of his laborious push to get access to the 2024 presidential ballot as an independent candidate, which he figures will require him to collect at least a million signatures across the country.
Aides mingled in the crowd, filling up his petitions to qualify in Arizona.
Ballot access for independent and minor-party candidates is an expensive and complicated process, with each state setting its own rules.
Campaigns usually hire people to collect signatures and often need a small army of lawyers to challenge access rules and fight back against others trying to keep the candidates off the ballot.
American Values 2024, a super PAC supporting Kennedy, has pledged to spend $15 million to help him get on the ballot in 10 states.
Kennedy secured a victory in Utah, where the lieutenant governor pushed back the deadline to qualify from January to March after Kennedy filed suit.
Kennedy is a member of one of the Democratic Party’s most famous families — his father was the attorney general for his uncle, President John F. Kennedy.
But he’s more recently built closer ties to the far right, where his conspiratorial and isolationist views are at home.
Enriqueta Porras, a 52-year-old physician from Phoenix, voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Trump in 2020.
She said she’s torn about the third-party conundrum.
She’d like to vote for someone she believes in, like Kennedy, but also wants to make sure Biden loses and may vote strategically.
“I don’t want to be that person,” Porras said, “but I feel like there’s a lot at stake and that may just have to happen.”
One of the nation’s most prominent anti-vaccine activists, Kennedy has long had a loyal following of people who reject the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe and effective, and they form a backbone of his presidential campaign.
An organization that Kennedy founded, Children’s Health Defense, currently has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines.
Rigorous study and real-world evidence from hundreds of millions of administered shots prove that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.
Deaths caused by vaccination are extremely rare and the risks associated with not getting vaccinated are far higher than the risks of vaccination.
Among the dozen Kennedy supporters who spoke to the AP in Phoenix, many share his view that corporations, especially drug companies, wield too much power.
Debra Sheetz first started paying attention to Kennedy when she was doing her own research on COVID-19 vaccinations.
“I’ve been listening to him for the last several years,” she said.
“I was so interested when he decided to make this big leap into politics because he has a lot of good ideas."
"He can really speak to what people really care about.”
Sheetz, 71, voted for Biden in 2020, she said sheepishly, because she found him to have “more balance, a little more sanity” compared with Trump.
But she was disillusioned by Biden’s support for pandemic-era restrictions and what she sees as a loss of freedom to speak freely.
“We lost our First Amendment,” said Sheetz, who lives in Ashland, Oregon, but has spent the past few years traveling the country in her RV.
“The most important thing is the ability for free speech and free ideas to share."
"Other ways to look at things."
"If you lose that, authoritarianism is there.”
Curt Eastin, a 65-year-old professional coach from Chandler, a Phoenix suburb, voted for Biden in 2020 but won’t again.
If Kennedy weren’t running, he’d vote for Trump next year, he said.
“I like that I can trust him."
"I think he’s honest,” he said.
“And even if I don’t agree with him, I know that he came to his conclusions honestly."
"I can’t trust any of the other people.”
Kennedy is keenly aware that his fans avoid the mainstream media, where journalists often flag the falsity of his vaccine claims, in favor of free-wheeling alternative sources online.
He said he’s drawing support especially from young people but struggling with people in his own generation.
“The problem with the baby boomers, I think, is they get their news from MSNBC, Fox and CNN,” he told the crowd in Phoenix, which responded with boos.
“Whereas young people are getting their news from podcasts and other alternative sources.”
Third party or independent candidates rarely do well in presidential contests.
Even the most successful recent example, Ross Perot in 1992, didn’t win a single electoral vote despite winning 19% of the popular vote.
Sometimes, minor-party candidates will get enough votes that partisans will blame them for tipping the scales to elect the popular vote loser, like Ralph Nader in 2000 or Jill Stein in 2016, both Green Party candidates.
“One of the biggest reasons I like him is because of his stance on partisanship in our House and our Senate, and I like how he wants to try and reunite both of them,” said Michael Chacon, a 23-year-old student in Tempe who has never voted and still wasn’t sure whether he will in 2024.
“I think that’s a really good idea."
"I think cooperation would go along way.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 2753&ei=32
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR
Re: ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR
State Of The Union
"Cornel West, RFK Momentum Terrifies Scrambling Biden Allies"
Story by Claire O'Hare
29 DECEMBER 2023
Reports indicate that third-party candidates, including Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have persisted in their campaigns, causing concern among allies of President Joe Biden.
The emergence of third-party candidates has led to increased efforts from the Democrat party establishment to keep Biden in office, with a focus on retaining progressive and moderate voters.
The possibility of third-party candidates influencing the election outcome, as seen in past elections, has sparked anxiety within the Democrat establishment.
According to NBC News, “With the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way acting as the hub, other groups in the coalition have focused on their expertise: MoveOn.org is working to keep progressive voters in the fold; ‘never Trump’ groups like the Lincoln Project are trying to do the same for moderates; a new bipartisan group founded by former House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt has been engaging Washington graybeards to write op-eds and talk to donors; Reproductive Freedom for All produced an ad claiming No Labels wants a national abortion ban; End Citizens United has been playing up potential campaign finance issues; and the opposition research super PAC American Bridge has retained Democratic lawyer Marc Elias to look for opportunities to bring legal challenges to third-party candidates.”
“Though no third party candidate has won a modern election – and no third party candidate has won electoral college votes since George Wallace carried five Deep South states in 1968 – a handful of candidates have been credited with influencing recent outcomes,” continued the outlet.
“Ross Perot’s 1992 race sucked support from George H.W. Bush, helping propel Bill Clinton to the White House."
"And more recently, Hillary Clinton’s allies blame Jill Stein for eroding Clinton’s support just enough for Trump to emerge victorious in key states,” NBC News reported.
“With Biden’s popularity tumbling as problems at home and abroad mount, West and Kennedy seek to exploit the same opening that the anxious Democrat establishment is shuffling to close."
"Biden’s allies have even been accused of viciously targeting a former Biden aide who has spoken out against the flailing campaign – a clear threat to others considering breaking the ‘Biden code of silence,'” concluded the outlet.
Additionally, there are indications of growing dissatisfaction with Biden’s presidency, with speculation about the potential replacement of Biden on the ballot.
Cornel West’s strategic campaign moves, particularly in targeting Arab American votes in Michigan, and the impact of refugee populations on the political landscape in states like Michigan and Minnesota, are also highlighted.
There are warnings from both Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans about the potential impact of third-party candidates on the election, but with a significant number of former Biden voters seeking an alternative, these warnings may not be heeded.
Kurt Bardella, a former Republican said, “Candidates not named Trump or Biden will likely outperform previous third-party campaign benchmarks in an unprecedented way.”
“While I understand the frustration with the two-party system, the reality is when it comes to the 2024 election, a vote for anyone else but the Democratic nominee is a vote for Donald Trump,” he continued.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 80b1&ei=60
"Cornel West, RFK Momentum Terrifies Scrambling Biden Allies"
Story by Claire O'Hare
29 DECEMBER 2023
Reports indicate that third-party candidates, including Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have persisted in their campaigns, causing concern among allies of President Joe Biden.
The emergence of third-party candidates has led to increased efforts from the Democrat party establishment to keep Biden in office, with a focus on retaining progressive and moderate voters.
The possibility of third-party candidates influencing the election outcome, as seen in past elections, has sparked anxiety within the Democrat establishment.
According to NBC News, “With the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way acting as the hub, other groups in the coalition have focused on their expertise: MoveOn.org is working to keep progressive voters in the fold; ‘never Trump’ groups like the Lincoln Project are trying to do the same for moderates; a new bipartisan group founded by former House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt has been engaging Washington graybeards to write op-eds and talk to donors; Reproductive Freedom for All produced an ad claiming No Labels wants a national abortion ban; End Citizens United has been playing up potential campaign finance issues; and the opposition research super PAC American Bridge has retained Democratic lawyer Marc Elias to look for opportunities to bring legal challenges to third-party candidates.”
“Though no third party candidate has won a modern election – and no third party candidate has won electoral college votes since George Wallace carried five Deep South states in 1968 – a handful of candidates have been credited with influencing recent outcomes,” continued the outlet.
“Ross Perot’s 1992 race sucked support from George H.W. Bush, helping propel Bill Clinton to the White House."
"And more recently, Hillary Clinton’s allies blame Jill Stein for eroding Clinton’s support just enough for Trump to emerge victorious in key states,” NBC News reported.
“With Biden’s popularity tumbling as problems at home and abroad mount, West and Kennedy seek to exploit the same opening that the anxious Democrat establishment is shuffling to close."
"Biden’s allies have even been accused of viciously targeting a former Biden aide who has spoken out against the flailing campaign – a clear threat to others considering breaking the ‘Biden code of silence,'” concluded the outlet.
Additionally, there are indications of growing dissatisfaction with Biden’s presidency, with speculation about the potential replacement of Biden on the ballot.
Cornel West’s strategic campaign moves, particularly in targeting Arab American votes in Michigan, and the impact of refugee populations on the political landscape in states like Michigan and Minnesota, are also highlighted.
There are warnings from both Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans about the potential impact of third-party candidates on the election, but with a significant number of former Biden voters seeking an alternative, these warnings may not be heeded.
Kurt Bardella, a former Republican said, “Candidates not named Trump or Biden will likely outperform previous third-party campaign benchmarks in an unprecedented way.”
“While I understand the frustration with the two-party system, the reality is when it comes to the 2024 election, a vote for anyone else but the Democratic nominee is a vote for Donald Trump,” he continued.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 80b1&ei=60
Re: ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR
TAG24 NEWS
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wins big as ballot access battle rages on"
Story by Rey Harris
24 FEBRUARY 2024
Pearl City, Hawaii - Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. scored a huge win this week in the uphill battle to get his name on ballots across the nation.
On Thursday, RFK's campaign announced that they successfully collected the 862 required signatures to establish their We The People party in Hawaii.
The party then went on to nominate Kennedy as their presidential candidate, making the state the third, alongside New Hampshire and Utah, to add him to its ballots.
"Mahalo to the people of Hawaii who made this great accomplishment possible," Kennedy said in a statement.
"I'm inspired by how enthusiastic people are to collect signatures, create new political parties, and rally for real change.
"This kind of energy is what will get us onto the ballot in every state... as we head toward election day," he added.
Why did Robert F. Kennedy Jr. create his own party?
His campaign recently launched their effort to create their own party to help ensure that he is added to ballots in several US states, including Hawaii, California, and Texas, as his campaign has faced a number of roadblocks in their battle to gain ballot access.
Earlier this week, the campaign filed a lawsuit against Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows after she barred the team from collecting signatures at local polling stations during the state's upcoming primary contest.
Kennedy initially launched his campaign as a Democrat before declaring himself an independent candidate.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 6310&ei=49
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wins big as ballot access battle rages on"
Story by Rey Harris
24 FEBRUARY 2024
Pearl City, Hawaii - Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. scored a huge win this week in the uphill battle to get his name on ballots across the nation.
On Thursday, RFK's campaign announced that they successfully collected the 862 required signatures to establish their We The People party in Hawaii.
The party then went on to nominate Kennedy as their presidential candidate, making the state the third, alongside New Hampshire and Utah, to add him to its ballots.
"Mahalo to the people of Hawaii who made this great accomplishment possible," Kennedy said in a statement.
"I'm inspired by how enthusiastic people are to collect signatures, create new political parties, and rally for real change.
"This kind of energy is what will get us onto the ballot in every state... as we head toward election day," he added.
Why did Robert F. Kennedy Jr. create his own party?
His campaign recently launched their effort to create their own party to help ensure that he is added to ballots in several US states, including Hawaii, California, and Texas, as his campaign has faced a number of roadblocks in their battle to gain ballot access.
Earlier this week, the campaign filed a lawsuit against Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows after she barred the team from collecting signatures at local polling stations during the state's upcoming primary contest.
Kennedy initially launched his campaign as a Democrat before declaring himself an independent candidate.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 6310&ei=49
Re: ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR
FOX News
"Third parties are like 'cockroaches in the kitchen,' former Clinton adviser says: 'Foul it up' for Biden"
Story by Hanna Panreck
27 MARCH 2024
Paul Begala, a former adviser to Bill Clinton, compared third-parties to cockroaches on Monday and said Robert F. Kennedy Jr would throw "the whole election to Donald Trump," which he said was a very real threat.
While discussing the Biden campaign and DNC effort to "diminish" RFK Jr.'s third-party effort, Begala, a CNN political commentator, suggested Kennedy could throw the election to Trump and compared third-parties to cockroaches.
"Third parties elected Donald Trump in 2016, about six to seven percent of Americans voted third-party."
"That third-party vote dropped to less than two, which is how Biden won."
"So, anything over two, Democrats are in trouble."
"Kennedy alone is getting 15 in some of these places."
"So yeah, my view is third parties, they’re like cockroaches in the kitchen, okay?"
He added, "It’s not what they carry off that upsets you."
"It’s what they fall into and foul up."
"Bobby Kennedy can fall into every swing state and foul it up for Joe Biden and throw the whole election to Donald Trump."
"So, I’m very happy as a Democrat that the Democrats are on this because it’s a very real threat," Begala said.
The other panelists laughed at the comparison, as guest-host Phil Mattingly asked about how Donald Trump's campaign was looking at RFK Jr.'s role in the contest.
CNN's Alayna Treene said Trump's team believed RFK Jr.'s candidacy was a wildcard.
"When I talked to them, they recognize that he’s kind of a wildcard in some senses."
"And especially when it comes to the people who are really against the system."
"When I talk to Trump‘s team, people close to the former president, people like Steve Bannon say this, that they think that the people who are anti-vaccine, anti-establishment, have very strong positions on Ukraine, not wanting to give more money to Ukraine funding."
"Those are the type of people that do normally go for Donald Trump, but could potentially go for someone like RFK jr.," she said.
"And that's where there is concern."
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is establishing an official committee, led by former Pete Buttigieg campaign staffer and Democratic operative Lis Smith, to counter the third party threat, NBC News reported.
They plan to counter third party efforts through an "aggressive communications component," opposition research and legal action.
Democratic strategists have repeatedly warned that third parties are a threat to Biden, and could propel Trump to victory in 2024.
Begala, a Biden supporter, has urged the president to directly attack Trump on the campaign trail.
"Stop bragging and start bashing," Begala said, suggesting they frame Trump as not only a threat to democracy, but a threat to lower prescription drug costs and lower health care premiums.
RFK Jr. is expected to announce his pick for vice president on Tuesday, which could reportedly give him a boost in donations, Fox News Digital reported.
That Kennedy plans to announce a running mate means he met a necessary benchmark required by two dozen states to be listed on the ballot, propelling the independent further toward a face off against the presumptive GOP nominee, Trump and Biden in November.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 1574&ei=22
"Third parties are like 'cockroaches in the kitchen,' former Clinton adviser says: 'Foul it up' for Biden"
Story by Hanna Panreck
27 MARCH 2024
Paul Begala, a former adviser to Bill Clinton, compared third-parties to cockroaches on Monday and said Robert F. Kennedy Jr would throw "the whole election to Donald Trump," which he said was a very real threat.
While discussing the Biden campaign and DNC effort to "diminish" RFK Jr.'s third-party effort, Begala, a CNN political commentator, suggested Kennedy could throw the election to Trump and compared third-parties to cockroaches.
"Third parties elected Donald Trump in 2016, about six to seven percent of Americans voted third-party."
"That third-party vote dropped to less than two, which is how Biden won."
"So, anything over two, Democrats are in trouble."
"Kennedy alone is getting 15 in some of these places."
"So yeah, my view is third parties, they’re like cockroaches in the kitchen, okay?"
He added, "It’s not what they carry off that upsets you."
"It’s what they fall into and foul up."
"Bobby Kennedy can fall into every swing state and foul it up for Joe Biden and throw the whole election to Donald Trump."
"So, I’m very happy as a Democrat that the Democrats are on this because it’s a very real threat," Begala said.
The other panelists laughed at the comparison, as guest-host Phil Mattingly asked about how Donald Trump's campaign was looking at RFK Jr.'s role in the contest.
CNN's Alayna Treene said Trump's team believed RFK Jr.'s candidacy was a wildcard.
"When I talked to them, they recognize that he’s kind of a wildcard in some senses."
"And especially when it comes to the people who are really against the system."
"When I talk to Trump‘s team, people close to the former president, people like Steve Bannon say this, that they think that the people who are anti-vaccine, anti-establishment, have very strong positions on Ukraine, not wanting to give more money to Ukraine funding."
"Those are the type of people that do normally go for Donald Trump, but could potentially go for someone like RFK jr.," she said.
"And that's where there is concern."
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is establishing an official committee, led by former Pete Buttigieg campaign staffer and Democratic operative Lis Smith, to counter the third party threat, NBC News reported.
They plan to counter third party efforts through an "aggressive communications component," opposition research and legal action.
Democratic strategists have repeatedly warned that third parties are a threat to Biden, and could propel Trump to victory in 2024.
Begala, a Biden supporter, has urged the president to directly attack Trump on the campaign trail.
"Stop bragging and start bashing," Begala said, suggesting they frame Trump as not only a threat to democracy, but a threat to lower prescription drug costs and lower health care premiums.
RFK Jr. is expected to announce his pick for vice president on Tuesday, which could reportedly give him a boost in donations, Fox News Digital reported.
That Kennedy plans to announce a running mate means he met a necessary benchmark required by two dozen states to be listed on the ballot, propelling the independent further toward a face off against the presumptive GOP nominee, Trump and Biden in November.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 1574&ei=22
Re: ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR
NBC News
"'Freaked out' Democrats mobilize to stop RFK Jr. from cutting into Biden"
Story by Carol E. Lee and Alex Seitz-Wald and Vaughn Hillyard
5 APRIL 2024
WASHINGTON — In fall 2016, a Hillary Clinton staffer stationed in the Upper Midwest got a call from the campaign’s headquarters in Brooklyn telling him to delete a joke he had tweeted about then-Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
The campaign’s policy, in keeping with the standard practice, was to not discuss third-party candidates, whom they viewed as minor nuisances to be ignored — not as adversaries worth combating openly, even in jest.
This year, though, Democrats have adopted a radically different strategy on independent and third-party candidates.
They’re waging an open war on the likes of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom they view as mortal threats to President Joe Biden’s re-election.
There are brand new super PACs — plural — devoted to crushing third-party candidates.
Democratic National Committee mobile billboards troll Kennedy at events.
And party donors are funding legal efforts to try to keep him off the ballot.
Democrats are adopting such a different posture in 2024 partly because of what happened after that fall 2016 phone call: Stein won enough votes in swing states like Michigan to potentially tip the close election to Donald Trump, and Clinton become the second Democrat in less than 20 years to lose the presidency after Green Party nominees won a mere 1% support in key states.
“Everyone thinks this is going to be decided on the head of a pin, so people are freaked out like never before,” said one senior Democrat, granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Democrats have grown increasingly alarmed by Kennedy’s strength in polls, especially since he named Silicon Valley philanthropist Nicole Shanahan as his running mate.
Not only could she fund the cash-strapped campaign, but her selection and the way the campaign introduced her signaled that Kennedy is positioning himself more on the left in the 2024 campaign.
Shanahan, who until recently was a sizable Democratic donor, announced on stage that she was leaving the Democratic Party and invited others to join her.
Democrats are especially concerned about Kennedy attracting low-propensity voters who are only marginally attached to the Democratic Party, including swaths of young people and, especially, young men of color.
Even a small number of defections from Biden's 2020 coalition could tip a key state against the president in 2024 and imperil his narrow path to victory.
“Since early January, it has not been difficult to convince people that this is a challenge and potential problem that needs to be taken seriously,” said Pete Kavanaugh, Biden’s former deputy campaign manager in 2020, who is now running a new Democratic super PAC called Clear Choice.
The group, which has the tacit blessing of Biden’s high command, is dedicated to stopping third-party candidates from gaining traction, through research, messaging and especially “ballot access accountability” — that is, trying to keep candidates off the ballot by exploiting any mistake they make in gathering and submitting petition signatures.
'The Democrat Party’s worst nightmare'
There were some self-organized efforts to combat former Green Party nominee Ralph Nader in 2004 (after Democrats blamed his 2000 performance in Florida for hurting Al Gore), and Democrats in 2020 worked quietly to block the rapper formerly known as Kanye West from the ballot.
But Democrats have never had a well-funded national strategy like the current one to combat third-party candidates.
And Kennedy, an apostate of the most famous Democratic family in America, has proved to be a particularly appeal target for donors.
“He’s got a famous last name, he’s showing up in the numbers, and a lot of them have had personal interactions with him in the past, so there is significant interest in making sure these programs are funded,” said Kavanaugh.
Future Forward, the main pro-Biden super PAC, which raised over $150 million in 2020, could potentially run ads to tamp down third-party support, according to people familiar with the effort.
Meanwhile, an earlier coalition of outside groups that worked together to combat No Labels, the bipartisan group that ended its efforts to field a presidential ticket earlier Thursday, is pivoting to Kennedy and the other candidates.
“We have learned a lot in the No Labels campaign about how to make the case against third parties this cycle, and we’re deeply alarmed by the Kennedy campaign,” said Matt Bennett, the executive vice president of Third Way, the centrist Democratic think tank that served as a hub for that effort.
“Ultimately, this is going to look different."
"It’s going to be a persuasion campaign in swing states to not vote for him.”
Donna Brazile, the famed Democratic strategist who managed Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, said the party was caught off guard by Nader, who won nearly 100,000 votes in Florida that year as Republican George W. Bush carried the state by a 537-vote margin.
“Our focus was on voter fatigue, apathy and the lack of enthusiasm,” said Brazile.
“So, we missed the post-debate momentum that Team Nader generated in a number of battleground states, including Florida.”
Brazile added that in the current media landscape, it’s “vital” for the DNC to “keep a watchful eye” on candidates it might have dismissed in the past.
Kennedy, meanwhile, is spoiling for the fight since dropping out of the Democratic primary to run as an independent.
He is accusing Democrats of being un-democratic and blasting out fundraising emails calling himself “the Democrat Party’s worst nightmare.”
“They are using a vast network of shadowy dark money groups and vicious attorneys to keep Kennedy/Shanahan ticket off state ballots and spread malicious smears,” he added in one missive.
Biden himself, however, is leaving it to outside groups and the DNC to engage with Kennedy, keeping his hands clean.
“We’re not giving this guy oxygen,” said one person familiar with the campaign’s thinking.
The Biden campaign wants the 2024 election to be seen as a binary choice between Biden and Trump.
But its belief is that Kennedy is probably going to be a factor in only a handful of battleground states.
And in those states, the battle for voters will be fought locally, with national support from the DNC and super PACs.
Why Trump thinks RFK is 'great for MAGA'
It's not just Democratic strategists who think Kennedy is a threat to Biden.
Kennedy is “great for MAGA,” Trump said on Truth Social last weekend, adding, “I love that he is running!”
On Fox News, Trump said, “I think he’s probably going to hurt Biden."
"I don’t see him hurting me.”
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., a possible Trump running mate, said on Newsmax last week: “What we do realize is having that third-party candidate on the ballot, no matter the choice for vice president, is gonna bleed votes from the Democrats.”
Vivek Ramaswamy, the former GOP presidential candidate, said he hopes Kennedy gets on as many state ballots as possible since “it should take votes away from the Democrats," while former Trump spokesperson Erin Perrine said it was foolish to think "he would take votes from anybody other than Joe Biden."
Still, there is enormous uncertainty about how much third-party candidates will actually matter come November.
Kennedy has yet to secure ballot access in most states.
And the polling data is messy enough that no one is comfortable saying exactly how much support Kennedy has, let alone how many of his supporters might otherwise go for Biden versus Trump.
And historically, a large portion of voters who at some point tell pollsters they’ll vote third-party wind up pulling the lever for a major candidate.
And Kennedy is not well positioned to take advantage of the major source of progressive dissatisfaction with Biden: Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza, since Kennedy's stance on the conflict is similar to Biden’s.
Still, it's clear that at least some voters who might otherwise vote Democratic are attracted to Kennedy’s populist message.
“I like the fact that he’s interested in divorcing the corporate interests with government interests,” said a Biden 2020 voter who gave her name Joanna and attended last month’s event in Oakland unveiling Shanahan.
“He has integrity, and he’s honest.”
If Kennedy is not on the ballot, she suggested she would likely vote for the Green Party nominee instead.
“I’ve actually voted Democrat my entire life," she said.
"But I don’t think I’d do it this time."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 4a91&ei=81
"'Freaked out' Democrats mobilize to stop RFK Jr. from cutting into Biden"
Story by Carol E. Lee and Alex Seitz-Wald and Vaughn Hillyard
5 APRIL 2024
WASHINGTON — In fall 2016, a Hillary Clinton staffer stationed in the Upper Midwest got a call from the campaign’s headquarters in Brooklyn telling him to delete a joke he had tweeted about then-Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
The campaign’s policy, in keeping with the standard practice, was to not discuss third-party candidates, whom they viewed as minor nuisances to be ignored — not as adversaries worth combating openly, even in jest.
This year, though, Democrats have adopted a radically different strategy on independent and third-party candidates.
They’re waging an open war on the likes of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom they view as mortal threats to President Joe Biden’s re-election.
There are brand new super PACs — plural — devoted to crushing third-party candidates.
Democratic National Committee mobile billboards troll Kennedy at events.
And party donors are funding legal efforts to try to keep him off the ballot.
Democrats are adopting such a different posture in 2024 partly because of what happened after that fall 2016 phone call: Stein won enough votes in swing states like Michigan to potentially tip the close election to Donald Trump, and Clinton become the second Democrat in less than 20 years to lose the presidency after Green Party nominees won a mere 1% support in key states.
“Everyone thinks this is going to be decided on the head of a pin, so people are freaked out like never before,” said one senior Democrat, granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Democrats have grown increasingly alarmed by Kennedy’s strength in polls, especially since he named Silicon Valley philanthropist Nicole Shanahan as his running mate.
Not only could she fund the cash-strapped campaign, but her selection and the way the campaign introduced her signaled that Kennedy is positioning himself more on the left in the 2024 campaign.
Shanahan, who until recently was a sizable Democratic donor, announced on stage that she was leaving the Democratic Party and invited others to join her.
Democrats are especially concerned about Kennedy attracting low-propensity voters who are only marginally attached to the Democratic Party, including swaths of young people and, especially, young men of color.
Even a small number of defections from Biden's 2020 coalition could tip a key state against the president in 2024 and imperil his narrow path to victory.
“Since early January, it has not been difficult to convince people that this is a challenge and potential problem that needs to be taken seriously,” said Pete Kavanaugh, Biden’s former deputy campaign manager in 2020, who is now running a new Democratic super PAC called Clear Choice.
The group, which has the tacit blessing of Biden’s high command, is dedicated to stopping third-party candidates from gaining traction, through research, messaging and especially “ballot access accountability” — that is, trying to keep candidates off the ballot by exploiting any mistake they make in gathering and submitting petition signatures.
'The Democrat Party’s worst nightmare'
There were some self-organized efforts to combat former Green Party nominee Ralph Nader in 2004 (after Democrats blamed his 2000 performance in Florida for hurting Al Gore), and Democrats in 2020 worked quietly to block the rapper formerly known as Kanye West from the ballot.
But Democrats have never had a well-funded national strategy like the current one to combat third-party candidates.
And Kennedy, an apostate of the most famous Democratic family in America, has proved to be a particularly appeal target for donors.
“He’s got a famous last name, he’s showing up in the numbers, and a lot of them have had personal interactions with him in the past, so there is significant interest in making sure these programs are funded,” said Kavanaugh.
Future Forward, the main pro-Biden super PAC, which raised over $150 million in 2020, could potentially run ads to tamp down third-party support, according to people familiar with the effort.
Meanwhile, an earlier coalition of outside groups that worked together to combat No Labels, the bipartisan group that ended its efforts to field a presidential ticket earlier Thursday, is pivoting to Kennedy and the other candidates.
“We have learned a lot in the No Labels campaign about how to make the case against third parties this cycle, and we’re deeply alarmed by the Kennedy campaign,” said Matt Bennett, the executive vice president of Third Way, the centrist Democratic think tank that served as a hub for that effort.
“Ultimately, this is going to look different."
"It’s going to be a persuasion campaign in swing states to not vote for him.”
Donna Brazile, the famed Democratic strategist who managed Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, said the party was caught off guard by Nader, who won nearly 100,000 votes in Florida that year as Republican George W. Bush carried the state by a 537-vote margin.
“Our focus was on voter fatigue, apathy and the lack of enthusiasm,” said Brazile.
“So, we missed the post-debate momentum that Team Nader generated in a number of battleground states, including Florida.”
Brazile added that in the current media landscape, it’s “vital” for the DNC to “keep a watchful eye” on candidates it might have dismissed in the past.
Kennedy, meanwhile, is spoiling for the fight since dropping out of the Democratic primary to run as an independent.
He is accusing Democrats of being un-democratic and blasting out fundraising emails calling himself “the Democrat Party’s worst nightmare.”
“They are using a vast network of shadowy dark money groups and vicious attorneys to keep Kennedy/Shanahan ticket off state ballots and spread malicious smears,” he added in one missive.
Biden himself, however, is leaving it to outside groups and the DNC to engage with Kennedy, keeping his hands clean.
“We’re not giving this guy oxygen,” said one person familiar with the campaign’s thinking.
The Biden campaign wants the 2024 election to be seen as a binary choice between Biden and Trump.
But its belief is that Kennedy is probably going to be a factor in only a handful of battleground states.
And in those states, the battle for voters will be fought locally, with national support from the DNC and super PACs.
Why Trump thinks RFK is 'great for MAGA'
It's not just Democratic strategists who think Kennedy is a threat to Biden.
Kennedy is “great for MAGA,” Trump said on Truth Social last weekend, adding, “I love that he is running!”
On Fox News, Trump said, “I think he’s probably going to hurt Biden."
"I don’t see him hurting me.”
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., a possible Trump running mate, said on Newsmax last week: “What we do realize is having that third-party candidate on the ballot, no matter the choice for vice president, is gonna bleed votes from the Democrats.”
Vivek Ramaswamy, the former GOP presidential candidate, said he hopes Kennedy gets on as many state ballots as possible since “it should take votes away from the Democrats," while former Trump spokesperson Erin Perrine said it was foolish to think "he would take votes from anybody other than Joe Biden."
Still, there is enormous uncertainty about how much third-party candidates will actually matter come November.
Kennedy has yet to secure ballot access in most states.
And the polling data is messy enough that no one is comfortable saying exactly how much support Kennedy has, let alone how many of his supporters might otherwise go for Biden versus Trump.
And historically, a large portion of voters who at some point tell pollsters they’ll vote third-party wind up pulling the lever for a major candidate.
And Kennedy is not well positioned to take advantage of the major source of progressive dissatisfaction with Biden: Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza, since Kennedy's stance on the conflict is similar to Biden’s.
Still, it's clear that at least some voters who might otherwise vote Democratic are attracted to Kennedy’s populist message.
“I like the fact that he’s interested in divorcing the corporate interests with government interests,” said a Biden 2020 voter who gave her name Joanna and attended last month’s event in Oakland unveiling Shanahan.
“He has integrity, and he’s honest.”
If Kennedy is not on the ballot, she suggested she would likely vote for the Green Party nominee instead.
“I’ve actually voted Democrat my entire life," she said.
"But I don’t think I’d do it this time."
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