Many Americans are dissatisfied with their options in the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election. While some politicians, like Hillary Clinton, claim voters need to “get over themselves”, it is becoming increasingly obvious that blind voting down the ballot with preferred parties is becoming a thing of the past for upcoming generations.
On the one hand, you have Incumbent Democrat Joe Biden, who is facing increasing conflict over continuing to arm Israel while Gaza is facing a devastating humanitarian crisis, who has failed on his promises of massive student loan debt relief, and is, well, old. As we have seen within the primaries, voters are coming out and voicing their opposition against the 81-year-old candidate. By thousands voting “uncommitted” and “no preference” in states like Colorado, Massachusetts, and Michigan, their voices are loud and clear: they don’t claim him.
On the other hand, you have former President Donald Trump, who currently has 91 felony charges across four states, tried to overturn the 2020 election, and is, well, also old. Alongside his very questionable morals, a specific group of Republicans seems to just be over his antics, voters dubbed as “never-trumpers”. These are the voters who went the Nikki Haley route, but now are feeling hopelessly lost in their lack of support for Trump.
Voters who are against both candidates do have other choices, though. They can choose to stay home this election season and vote for their couch instead of a candidate. They could vote for a third party, like Jill Stein, Green party candidate. Or, as many Americans are doing, they could choose to come out and express their disdain by voting for someone who has no party ties at all, namely, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Coming from a (largely) Democrat political dynasty of a family, he is following the steps of his name-sake father, and uncle John F. Kennedy, in running for President of the United States. Despite initially running as a Democrat, Kennedy has now switched to an independent, which has opened a can of worms and worries for both the Democratic and Republican parties. He claims to be anti-establishment, yet is using significant tactics of both sides of the aisle in order to appeal to their voter bases in his attempt to sway them towards his movement. Furthermore, he is taking donations from mega-donors of both sides, especially the far right.
Kennedy Jr. is riddled with many controversies, including being picked as one of the “Disinformation Dozen” during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a result of being one of the most prominent figures in virus and vaccine misinformation. He also has come under fire for claiming that the virus was engineered to not infect Ashkennzai Jews, which has given him a label of being antisemitic. Oh, and whilst we are on the topic of vaccines, he also claims they cause Autism. To add even more spruce to his track record of misinformation, just recently reports came out that he felt that there was “little to no evidence of a true insurrection” around the events of January 6th.
Moving past his plentiful controversies, we have to look at the present. He is in a clear position to take votes away from both candidates in November. However, his attempts to appeal to both sides will also inevitably, as we saw with Nikki Haley, not work in the long run. His position on issues is becoming increasingly hard to follow, as one word is left and the other is as far right as you can get.
When looking at his views, it’s obvious some of his words are lies. Of course, every politician tells a lie or two. It’s how many get elected, off of false claims they say they will fulfill but fail to ever do. Find me a politician who fulfilled every promise they made during an election and I’ll bite my tongue. Lying isn’t his crime, but inconsistency will be his downfall.
To the left, he has an intense passion for the environment, having worked as an environmental lawyer for years. He comes from a well-known family in American politics, so the fancy last name gives him points based on recognition alone. He claims to have plans for racial healing, cuts for military spending, affordable housing plans, and ending interest on student loans. If this was all someone who skews left knew, it would make sense why he seems like a better option than our dear Incumbent.
To the right, he has strict plans for border control, and denounces the Biden administration's policies. He believes the mainstream media lies, is against big pharma, and has plans to cut spending that has put the U.S in critical debt. He also agrees with essentially “draining the swamp”, a popular term Republicans seem to love, as it involves allegedly reducing special interest groups and lobbyists within government. If one was on the right, and possibly a “never-Trumper”, I could also see how he could appeal to that base.
To some, he may seem like a relief compared to the two candidates, someone right in the middle. That just isn’t true - he is not a centrist candidate. How can he continue to appeal to both voter bases when he consistently flip-flops? With political polarization at a seemingly all-time high, does he hope the left will conveniently miss out on when he speaks about right-wing topics, and vice versa? His strategy is faulty, but for some reason, it’s strangely working.
But, we have to remember, despite this strategy pulling votes away: he has no real shot at winning the election, as realistically no third party or independent candidate will be able to receive 270 electoral votes to win the presidency. Whether one finds that harsh or not, a vote for him is essentially a vote wasted - it's just the American political reality. Kennedy Jr. knows this, so the truth we have to turn our heads towards is why he is running, and what his motives are behind it.
I urge voters to view the bigger picture: RFK Jr. is not your savior. He is not democracy's savior, and he most certainly is not America’s savior in 2024.
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