38
RFK Jr. announces he will run as an independent candidate
(www.politico.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2023
38 points (100.0% liked)
Politics
10179 readers
88 users here now
In-depth political discussion from around the world; if it's a political happening, you can post it here.
Guidelines for submissions:
- Where possible, post the original source of information.
- If there is a paywall, you can use alternative sources or provide an archive.today, 12ft.io, etc. link in the body.
- Do not editorialize titles. Preserve the original title when possible; edits for clarity are fine.
- Do not post ragebait or shock stories. These will be removed.
- Do not post tabloid or blogspam stories. These will be removed.
- Social media should be a source of last resort.
These guidelines will be enforced on a know-it-when-I-see-it basis.
Subcommunities on Beehaw:
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
This will split the dem vote and serve Trump another term.
? Seems more likely to appeal to MAGA conspiracy theorist voters than to Dems.
A MAGA conspiracy theorist is deadset on Trump. There is no loss to Trumps base.
This directly siphons off the votes from low information potential dem voters. A solid chunk of my family and peer group have been 100% on the RFK jr train. There is a SIGNIFICANT population of people who would normally vote dem but are swayed by this kind of rhetoric.
It is true he was paid by the GOP to split the vote among Democrats, but I believe it has backfired if RFK Jr is running independent so soon into the election cycle. Several stories have come out about the GOP and Trump being worried about this move. Usually, federal abortion bans and right wing conspiracy theories don't appeal to left wing voters the same way they appeal to right wing voters. Add the fact that there are so many right wing conspiracy theories that say that the Kennedy family will somehow save Trump and give him control of the government, at a time where it looks like trump will likely go to prison for the rest of his life, and Kennedy becomes a conservative super hero. Also, Kennedy was given time to speak during CPAC, which has given him exposure among conservatives in a way that he hasn't received among left wing people.
There are a ton of reasons I am cautiously optimistic that RFK Jr. will end up tanking Trump or whoever Trump's replacement will be if Trump ends up in prison before the election. I still plan on voting and encouraging others to vote despite this turn of events.