PHILADELPHIA Hundreds of people cheer wildly in downtown Philadelphia, the birthplace of American democracy. Many of them are waving blue and red signs that read “Kennedy 2024.”
– I am here to make a new declaration of independence – – I declare independence from American corporations, – – and I declare independence from two parties, the gray-haired man shouts hoarsely into the microphone.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has just announced that he will enter the presidential race as an independent candidate.
The announcement unnerves Democrats, maybe a little Republicans too – and for good reason.
Jim Gattone from Pennsylvania says he voted for Trump in the last election, Kimberly Hughes North Carolina again voted for Biden. Mark Gorton didn’t vote at all. Now all three plan to vote for Kennedy.
These votes could be decisive in next year’s presidential election – but it is still unclear in whose favor.
Vesa of the politician family and conspiracy theorist
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. began his campaign in April, and initially sought the Democratic presidential nomination. The reception was initially promising in the eyes of the Kennedy campaign.
Around June, poll averages showed that as many as 16 percent of Democratic voters would have been willing to vote for Kennedy as the presidential candidate rather than the president Joe Biden.
Two things seem to have fueled Kennedy’s early career: a well-known name and anti-vaccination.
Kennedy’s father was a US senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was running for the Democratic presidential nomination before his murder. The uncle was the assassinated president John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy’s name is automatically recognized, and the mystique associated with the family also fascinates supporters.
– The Kennedy family is a family of American royalty who are dedicated to serving the people, unlike most of the US rulers who are dedicated only to themselves, the corporations that finance them and their friends, says Kimberly Hughes.
Hughes says he lost his job when he refused to take the corona vaccine. Hughes and many other Kennedy supporters that met specifically mention “health care freedom” – that is, the freedom not to take vaccines – as the main reason for voting for Kennedy.
Kennedy has made a career as a lawyer defending environmental law, but has become known in recent years precisely for his anti-vaccine stance. Among other things, he has compared the restrictions of the corona era to Hitler’s Nazi Germany and presented conspiracy theories related to the corona.
The US anti-Semitism organization ADL has repeatedly criticized Kennedy’s statements related to the Holocaust and Jews. In June, YouTube removed Kennedy’s interview because he spread misinformation about vaccines.
Kennedy has repeatedly claimed that the media is censoring his campaign and that he is not being heard.
Kennedy’s comments have appealed to Republicans, and conservative television channel Fox has repeatedly interviewed Kennedy. The public has encouraged Kennedy to win over Trump’s former voters as well.
Jim Gattone says that he voted for Donald Trump in the last election, but says that he likes Kennedy’s personality so much that he plans to vote for him in the next election. However, Gattone believes that Trump’s voters are more loyal than Biden’s.
Many Democrats who came to Kennedy’s event seem irritated that the Democratic Party does not organize debates between the candidates at all. Biden has practically been chosen as the presidential candidate.
The 69-year-old Kennedy has not directly attacked Biden so far. Instead, he emphasizes his own virility on social media with videoswith which he sometimes does push-ups, sometimes jumps off a cliff.
A wild card in a tight race
Independents and third-party candidates traditionally do poorly in US elections. Kennedy’s role may still be decisive.
Joe Biden narrowly won the 2020 election. In the runoff, Biden won the election by winning Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin by a combined margin of about 40,000 votes.
The 2024 elections are also expected to be extremely tight, and every vote will be fiercely contested. Trump leads the race for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination by a wide margin in opinion polls, so the election seems to be a repeat of 2020.
In preliminary opinion polls, the competition between Biden and Trump is predicted to be even.
According to an opinion poll commissioned by the Reuters news agency Kennedy adds to the unpredictability. According to the poll, one in seven voters might vote for Kennedy.
who arrived at Kennedy’s event Mark Gorton believes in his candidate’s potential. He has founded a political funding organization to support Kennedy.
– He must take votes from both sides. Neither Trump nor Biden are inspiring candidates, and are unpopular even within their own parties. The fact that Kennedy offers an alternative is inspiring for everyone, regardless of political affiliation, says Gorton.
In terms of next year, the biggest question is whether Trump’s or Biden’s supporters are more loyal voters.
Story edited on 9.10. at 22:08: Fixed the fourth paragraph after the first intertitle. John F. Kennedy was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s uncle, not uncle.