If you follow the news with any regularity, you will hear a LOT about the Republican presidential race – especially the relative fortunes of former President Trump and his chief rival – at least at the moment – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Trump and DeSantis get daily coverage – with South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy getting honorable mentions and the rest of the GOP field treated like less significant “also-runs”.
You will not hear nearly as much about the contest on the Democrat side. In fact, folks may not even know that President Biden has competition in the Democrat primaries. The Party and their media allies are moving toward a coronation. That is because the left-leaning media is following orders from the White House to censor .. ban … any information about that other candidate –unless it is an occasional barb.
In case you are among the unaware, the other candidate is RFK, Jr. – son of the assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy. If he were not a member of the most famous political family in American history, Jr. might not be mentioned at all. Most pundits do not believe RFK, Jr. has much of a chance to defeat Biden in the primaries, but he does have the President and his folks rather nervous. RFK, Jr. is exposing the weakness of the Biden candidacy.
In the extreme, he could reprise the McCarthy role of 1968. (For those younger than me or Biden … Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy took on President Lyndon Johnson in the 1968 Democrat primaries. McCarthy did not win the nomination, but he exposed Johnson’s weakness to such an extent that the President withdrew his bid for a second term. Ironically, it was RFK, Sr. who swooped in and was likely to become the Democrat standard bearer until he was gunned down in a Los Angeles hotel after winning the California primary. But I digress.
The lack of coverage for RFK, Jr. is strange since he is polling against Biden about the same as DeSantis is polling against Trump. RFK, Jr. has been holding between 18 and 20 percent of the vote. That is pretty impressive against and incumbent President seeking reelection.If it were not for the pro-Biden media bias, that would be a BIG story. It was a big story when McCarthy was taking on Johnson. It was a big story when millionaire businessman Ross Perot challenged George H. W. Bush — costing him a second term.
Taking 20 percent of the Democrat primary voter from an incumbent President is a big story no matter how Biden & Co. try to suppress it. Like McCarthy and Perot before him, RFK, Jr. is a bit of a gadfly. He proffers conspiracy theories — including that the CIA bumped off his uncle, Jack Kennedy – and is an anti-vaxxer. But he is not without appeal to at least some of the 60 percent of Democrats who would prefer to have Biden retire. RFK, Jr. is running on an environmentalist platform – which makes him popular with some of the radical left greens.
The reason Biden needs to keep RFK, Jr. silenced is because the President cannot afford another voice explaining to the American people why old Joe Biden should not be returned to the Oval Office. RFK, Jr. is not the only Biden challenger, however.
You may recall Marianne Williamson, who ran in the Democrat primaries in 2020. She is another gadfly, running on a platform of love and the creation of a Department of Peace. She appears to be reprising the Flower Children world of the 1960s. Unlike RFK, Jr., she is languishing in the low single digits. There are always a lot of third party and independent candidates for President.
One that Biden needs to keep his eye on is long time civil rights activist Cornel West, running to represent the Green Party. He could hurt Biden like Ralph Nader, as the Green Party candidate, cut into Al Gore’s vote in 2000. West gives the growing number of disenchanted black Democrats and alternative in the General Election.
While Biden and the Democrats are putting a confident face on for the public – and trying to keep RFK, Jr. from get noticed – they are nervous. That was seen in a fundraiser from Americpafund, a Democrat super PAC, which wrote to donors:“We’ll be frank: Other candidates including Robert F. Kennedy Jr on the left and Donald Trump on the right are gaining traction. So we need to lock down support for President Biden before it’s too late.”
Unless one of the major Democrats, such as California Governor Gavin Newsom or Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker enters the race, Biden probably has a lock on the nomination. But with so many Democrats pining for a change, RFK, Jr. and others could throw the election to the Republican candidate – even if it is Donald Trump.So, there ‘tis.