Democrats have kicked into high gear to combat what they see as the threat that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential bid could pose to President Joe Biden’s reelection. The Democratic National Committee has a team dedicated to countering Kennedy and other third-party candidates, and big donors are investing in a super PAC to do the same.
But the nature of Kennedy’s appeal is not fully understood, and if he manages to get on the ballot in key states, he could pull as many votes, or more, away from former President Donald Trump as from Biden.
“I’m trying to discern what it is,” said Chuck Coughlin, a political strategist and ex-Republican in Arizona whose consulting firm does frequent polling in the swing state. “Does [Kennedy] attract Republican voters who are not Trumpers, who don’t want to vote for Biden? I’ve got to think there’s something there.”
Asked for comment on his potential appeal to Trump voters, the Kennedy campaign sent a lengthy response rejecting the premise of the story.
“This push comes in part from a genuine inability of the establishment parties to understand a candidate who does not fit into conventional political categories. In fact, we are neither right nor left, neither liberal nor conservative,” Kennedy campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear said in a statement. “The key policy positions that Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Shanahan share defy those categories. Is ending the forever wars liberal, or conservative? How about freeing agencies from corporate capture? Ending the chronic disease epidemic? Protecting free speech?
“The DNC and GOP try to pigeonhole our candidates as liberals or conservatives, which perpetuates the divisiveness that has paralyzed our political system,” she continued. “Both are screaming, ‘He’s one of THEM!’ Our ticket represents the broad majority who have unsubscribed from the right-left paradigm.”
Kennedy, an environmental attorney and scion of the famous Democratic dynasty, is…
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