College of Political Knowledge

2024 Election Series

It is that time again….yet another election for the leader of the free world….or so we are told.

Time for ‘independents’ to shine.

I am talking about true independents not those people that delude themselves that they are independent because the vote for one party or the other….that is not an independent in my book.

Yes it is early but we have two candidates that have forsaken the two party system to go it as a true independent…..these are RFK, jr and Cornell West

Let’s start with RFK, Jr…..originally he was going to run against Biden in the Democratic primaries but has since changed his mind….

Longtime environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday he will run for president as an independent and drop his Democratic primary bid, reports the AP. The move adds another wrinkle to a 2024 race heading toward a likely rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Kennedy, a member of one of the most famous Democratic families in politics, was running a longshot primary bid and has better favorability ratings among Republicans than Democrats. It’s unclear whether GOP support would translate to a general election when Kennedy would also be running against Trump. Both Biden and Trump allies have at times questioned whether Kennedy would be a spoiler against their candidate.

Biden’s allies so far have dismissed Kennedy’s primary campaign as unserious. Asked for comment on his potential independent run ahead of the announcement, a Democratic National Committee spokesman responded with an eye roll emoji. Monday’s announcement comes less than a week after the progressive activist Cornel West abandoned his Green Party bid in favor of an independent White House run. Meanwhile, the centrist group No Labels is actively securing ballot access for a yet-to-be-named candidate. Kennedy has spent weeks accusing the DNC of “rigging” the party’s primary against him and threatening that he might need to consider alternatives.

Awaiting Kennedy’s remarks Monday, hundreds of supporters gathered at Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, an apt location for the expected launch. Campaign signs teased a potential new slogan: “Declare your independence.” Among Kennedy’s fans in the crowd were several voters who said they don’t identify as Democratic or Republican and view Kennedy as a truth teller and a breath of fresh air. “He tells it how it is,” said Julia Hill, a 23-year-old student from New Jersey. “He doesn’t sound like a politician.”

I personally like his stand on the environment and antiwar stuff but he is an anti-vaxxer and his views on abortion are not in line with my thinking….so I can rule him out for my vote.

Next is Cornell West….

This candidate has the Dems worried…..

If asked to name candidates who pose the biggest threat to President Biden’s reelection, a lot of people would surely pick Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. But Cornel West? As it turns out, more top Democrats are getting seriously worried about the prominent Black academic and civil rights activist, reports Mark Leibovich at the Atlantic. It’s all about his potential to be a spoiler. West is running on the Green Party ticket, and Democrats worry he might pull Democratic voters away from Biden, particularly young, progressive voters. Sound familiar? It’s exactly what Democrats say Green Party candidate Jill Stein did to Hillary Clinton in 2016. And as Leibovich points out, Stein is actually West’s campaign manager.

West, for his part, downplays his spoiler potential. He tells the Atlantic that people who vote for him probably wouldn’t vote for Biden anyway—they would just stay home. However, Newsweek points to recent polls that suggest a different story. For example, poll tracker RacetotheWH has Biden leading Trump 44.1 to 42.2 in a one-on-one matchup. Add West to the mix and it’s a different story: Trump has 43, Biden 42, and West 4, according to a poll from Echelon Insights. “We should be concerned,” says Austin Davis, Democratic lieutenant governor in the swing state of Pennsylvania, speaking for Biden supporters.

West has decided to leave the Green Party and go it as an independent.

Cornel West has settled on the third party affiliation of his four-month-old presidential candidacy. The scholar’s campaign announced Thursday that he’s leaving the Green Party to runs as an independent, the Hill reports. “People are hungry for change,” West posted on X, adding that he wants to be president to “end the iron grip of the ruling class and ensure true democracy.” The only reason for the switch given by his campaign was a reference to West wanting to focus on the people, rather than on “the intricacies of internal party dynamics,” per Politico.

West began his campaign with the People’s Party, then moved to the Green Party, which is more mainstream and has a history of third-party candidacies. The progressive’s alliance with Sen. Bernie Sanders has won some support among Democrats, while others warn West could ensure a Republican victory by taking votes from President Biden. West now faces the task of placing his name on state ballots without the support of the Green Party’s infrastructure. He’ll have to collect about 550,000 signatures nationally, said his campaign manager, Peter Daou.

These announced independent have both Biden and Trump camps worried.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced he’s running for president as an independent. Cornel West made the same choice last week. While the politics are murky, the fresh frenzy of outsider candidates threatens to weaken both major parties as Democratic President Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump tighten their grip on their party’s presidential nomination. The parties’ concern isn’t so much that independent or third-party candidates would actually win the presidency, but that they could siphon support from the ultimate Democratic and Republican nominees, the AP reports. Democratic officials, especially, see the outsiders as a dangerous wildcard that harkens to 2016, when Green Party nominee Jill Stein may have enabled Trump’s razor-thin victory by winning a small portion of the vote.

Those associated with third-party efforts make no apologies. “The American people have been hungry for options. So, get ready,” Stein said in an interview. “What we’re seeing is a voter rebellion.” The rise of outsider candidates is a reminder of the volatility that hangs over the 2024 presidential election. Both of the major parties’ likely nominees are extraordinarily unpopular. Biden and Trump are running as the nation grapples with dangerous political divisions, economic anxiety, and a deep desire for a new generation of leadership in Washington. Much more activity is expected soon. Stein said the Green Party will likely make an announcement about its plans this month. No Labels expects to make a decision about its presidential nominee in the spring.

The efforts face obstacles. Simply qualifying for the ballot in every state will be a gargantuan task for outsider candidates without the benefit of existing political networks. Jim Messina, who managed President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and is now a Biden ally, didn’t play down the possibility that the new candidates could weaken Biden’s coalition. “The threat of a third party needs to be planned for seriously,” Messina said. Noting that no independent or third-party candidate has ever won even a single electoral vote—never mind the 270 needed to claim the presidency—he said Biden’s team still need to be aggressive in warning voters about the threat that long-shot outsider candidates present. “You need to tell people that a vote for a candidate without a path to 270 means they’re lighting their ballot on fire,” Messina said.

Of course these insiders will bad mouth any candidate but theirs….they cannot conceive a world where the parties are not in control and will say and do anything to keep it that way.

Right now my look is for West at least he stands for more issue as I do.

But that can change as the election grows near.

(Any comments about the whole ‘spoiler’ thing will be covered in a later post in this series.

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