Recently I wrote a post about 2 independents in the 2024 election, West and RFK,Jr, and most of the comments were about spoilers that would hand the election to Trump for they would take away from Biden’s small lead….
I replied that since RFK is an anti-vaxxer among other silliness that he might draw votes away from Trump….and now the news is in…..
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced last week that he was dropping out of the Democratic race to run for president as an independent, some analysts said his run could be more of a problem for President Biden than former President Trump. The latest NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll, however, suggests that Kennedy could take enough votes away from Trump to ensure a Biden victory. The poll put Biden at 49% and Trump at 46% in a hypothetical head-to-head. But when pollsters put Kennedy in the mix, Biden’s lead grew to 7 points, with the president at 44%, Trump at 37%, and Kennedy at 16%.
Pollsters found that independent voters split almost evenly among the three candidates, while Kennedy’s inclusion caused Biden’s support to dip by 5% among Democrats and Trump’s by 10% among Republicans. “Although it’s always tricky to assess the impact of a third-party candidate, right now Kennedy alters the equation in Biden’s favor,” says Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “What this does speak to, however, is that about one in six voters are looking for another option, especially independents.” Multiple other polls have found that Kennedy has a higher approval rating among Republicans than Democrats, Axios reports.
If this occurs then both parties will have something to whine about when the voter exercises their freedom of choice.
Will independents really make a difference?
I hope everyone has a great weekend….and as always….be well and be safe.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Everything I have read suggests that Kennedy is being funded by far right wing donors….if they realize his effort will hurt Republicans, Kennedy will be hit with a massive onslaught of negative stories that will bury him. He has NOTHING good to add to the political process and is one of many who seem to want to destroy our country from within…
I agree he has nothing the American people needs. chuq
RFK? Oh please, God… No!
I second that! OMG no!
Pretty much what everyone is thinking chuq
I don’t see RFK being any kind of threat to Biden. People assume that because he’s a Kennedy democrats will vote for him. That’s complete nonsense. Almost all of his backers are way, way out on the fringe of even the far right. It’s the GOP that needs to be most concerned about him because he’s going to look more appealing than Trump because he doesn’t have his legal baggage while still embracing a lot of the conspiracy theories that seem to attract the maga crowd.
I totally agree…..he has nothing to offer a Dem voter. chuq
I think his (RFK) campaign will come to nothing, and it will end up as a two-horse race. Biden needs to up his game when speaking in public though. Trump is hopeless at that of course, but nobody in his fan base seems to care. When it comes to Biden though, he is appearing to be more confused with each passing day. I still wonder if he will make it to November next year. If he dies, or withdraws, there is no viable alternative for the Dems.
Best wishes, Pete.
I’m a bit worried about Biden as well. But the few gaffs he’s made while speaking in public are nothing when compared to the word salad that Trump spouts.
I think we need to be seriously concerned about the whole age thing. BOTH of these guys are already older than the average life expectancy for males in the United States. Everyone talks about how old Biden is, but Trump is only a couple of years younger. That’s probably the only reason the GOP hasn’t started to try to really hammer Biden about his age, Trump is well up to the age range where he should be sitting on his front porch yelling at kids to get off his lawn.
True it is always a tweo horse race and there is where the problem lies. chuq
I agree that the two party system is badly broken but there doesn’t seem to be much anyone can do about it. The Dems and the GOP have such a lock on the system, both legally and financially, that they’ve made it impossible for a third party to do anything significant.
Remove money from the equation would help….that lock needs to be broken. chuq
You’re exactly right about that. I could go on for pages detailing how the political system we have now has become corrupted over the years, the legislation passed by Congress and state legislatures that has gradually opened the system up to corruption, etc. But I suspect everyone reading this already knows all about that.
Lobbyists should have a special day a month….there should be no open end meetings….plus there needs to be a 10 year waiting period for politicians to become lobbyists. Just a minor thought….chuq
I certainly agree with that. We badly need restrictions on the amount of influence the wealthy and corporations have on the government.
As long as Congress and SCOTUS is on their side then we will continue to have a corrupt government. chuq
I can’t imagine him drawing any votes from creatures of the new Absurd Democrat Party with its twisted and peculiar thinking but he may get votes from older democrats and blue-collar who are disgusted with Biden and whoever is really running the country. I would think that the nonprosecution of dangerous criminals should disgust all blocs in the cities who will look at RFK and local Republicans for safety, law and order. I think war in Middle East is going to expand and get very ugly and become the main worry of all kinds of voters and make our assessments completely meaningless.
The vote was along party lines….Lobbyists run this country…Period! Countries think they can do no wrong….but want everyone else to excuse their crimes in the name of national defense. chuq