RFK. Jr.’s selection of his vice presidential running mate did not get a lot of media coverage from the In-Bed-With-Biden news services. It is part of the strategy of leftwing media to suppress his vote.
RFK, Jr.’s choice is a relatively young woman named Nicole Shanahan. A good Irish name has long been a benefit in elections. That has been established by several studies. (I had a female friend who ran for judge and lost three times. So … she changed her Eastern European last name to a very Irish name and won handily on her fourth try. But I digress.)
Oh, wait! Shanahan is not a full-blooded daughter of Erin. In fact, she is only a fraction Irish. She is half Chinese, one-quarter German and one-quarter … Irish. Is she still a woman of color in the fantastical world of progressive theology?
At 38, Shanahan is considered relatively young to be a principal in a presidential campaign. She would surpass Teddy Roosevelt, who became Vice President at the age of 42. He became President before his 43rd birthday when President McKinley was assassinated.
That is all only of academic interest since the chance of the Kennedy/Shanahan ticket winning in November is slim to none. What is relevant is how well she and RFK, Jr. will do in the election – and which candidate they will draw from. How much will Shanahan help or hurt the ticket?
To get a sense of that, we need to know more about her. She may not be a household name, but there is definitely more there there than one might assume.
First of all, she is among the very-rich – maybe mega-rich. How rich depends on who is reporting it. Estimates range from $6 million to $50 million, But she could be a billionaire.
She is the ex-wife of uber billionaire founder of Google, Sergey Brin – and the settlement amount in their 2023 divorce has never been revealed. Most unofficial estimates put a “b” after the number. It was reported that the divorce was due to her having an affair with Elon Musk – which both vehemently deny. She has a daughter, Echo, by Brin.
She was no arm decoration spouse. Prior to marrying Brin, Shanahan was a successful patent attorney and entrepreneur — the founder of ClearAccessIP, a legal tech company that she sold to IPwe for $300 million.
She is currently “with” Jacob Strumwasser, CEO of Lightning Labs, a software development company that powers the Lightning Network for Bitcoin. Though unmarried, Shanahan and Strumwasser – both surfing enthusiasts – participated in a personal “love blessing ceremony” using water from the shore where they surfed.
Shanahan has been a significant investor in business, medical and charitable organizations, as well as movies. Her political donations were all for left of center causes and candidates. She was an early supporter of RFK, Jr. – and donated $4 million to a Political Action Committee to pay for a Super Bowl commercial.
If nothing else, Shanahan is likely to bring significant resources to the campaign. As a candidate for Vice President, there is no limit to the amount of her own money she can spend on the campaign.
Despite her age, Shanahan will be a credible candidate. She is articulate, knowledgeable and personable. She will have an obvious appeal to the Asian community.
RFK, Jr. has a steep hill to climb – more like a cliff – but Shanahan is likely to be a significant asset to the campaign.
So, there ‘tis.