
<p>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.</p>



<p>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 &#8230; she changed her Eastern European last name to a very Irish name and won handily on her fourth try. ; But I digress.)</p>



<p>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 &#8230; Irish.  ;Is she still a woman of color in the fantastical world of progressive theology?</p>



<p>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 43<sup>rd</sup> birthday when President McKinley was assassinated.</p>



<p>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?</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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. ;</p>



<p>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. ;</p>



<p>She was no arm decoration spouse. ; Prior to marrying Brin, Shanahan was a successful patent attorney and entrepreneur &#8212; the founder of ClearAccessIP, a legal tech company that she sold to IPwe for $300 million.</p>



<p>She is currently “with” <strong>Jacob Strumwasser, CEO of </strong>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>RFK, Jr. has a steep hill to climb – more like a cliff – but Shanahan is likely to be a significant asset to the campaign.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

RFK, Jr. makes an interesting choice for running mate
