A short while ago, Robert F Kennedy Jr. announced he was running for US president in 2024. Kennedy, the nephew of former president John F Kennedy and son of former attorney general Robert F Kennedy, has decided to challenge President Joe Biden in the Democratic Party presidential primaries.
He’s already polling at 19% among democrats, an encouraging statistic with his campaign only in its infancy; though President Biden is at a commanding 62% in the same poll. Could Kennedy stage an upset?
When taking into account the voting patterns of Democratic Party voters (these are the same people who let’s not forget voted for Biden over Bernie Sanders) and the fact that the Democratic Party establishment and the liberal wing of the mainstream US media will do all they can to stop him, the 35 plus year environmental advocate faces an uphill task.
The purpose of this article is not to convince you that the presidential hopeful will win the Democratic Party nomination, but that his views on big issues, President Biden’s own shortcomings and other matters will be a concern for the current White House incumbent.
Below I outline these views, most of which Kennedy outlined during his campaign speech, Biden’s own flaws and other matters going into 2024.
The military industrial complex and the cost of war
More than most, Kennedy understands the corrosive effect the for profit war industry has had on the United States; creating a forever war industry that continues to satisfy the insatiable appetite of weapons manufacturers while killing, maiming, and mentally scarring young American men and women and millions of people throughout the world (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Iraq, Latin America, just to name a few places); with the cost of these wars depriving many Americans at home of vital social services.
In his presidential announcement speech Kennedy stated:
“We’re in constant wars because the military industrial complex, the big contractors, own CIA. We’ve now committed $113 billion to the Ukraine. For reference, the entire budget of EPA is $12 billion. The budget of CDC is $11 billion. We have a war on the poor. 57% of Americans cannot put their hand on $1,000 if they had an emergency. One quarter of Americans go to bed hungry. We have 1.5 million veterans who are living below the poverty line. We have 33,000 veterans who are homeless. The war on the poor is a blood war.”
The war in Ukraine
Here Kennedy has a position that transcends the left/right divide given the fact that his own son fought for Ukrainian sovereignty and his own desire to find a peaceful solution to the conflict:
“My own son, Connor, I’m very, very proud. Connor joined a foreign legion and fought in the Ukraine during the Kharkiv offensive as a machine gunner for a Special Forces group. We were told initially that the objective was humanitarian, and that is a good reason to be there, humanitarian. And what that means is trying to end the bloodshed and minimize it as much as possible. But in recent times, President Biden said that one of our objectives, at least, is regime change of Putin. So, if those are our objectives, to have regime change and exhaust the Russians, that is completely antithetical to a humanitarian mission.
“If we’re there for a humanitarian mission it means to reduce bloodshed and bring an end to the war quickly. If we’re there to exhaust the Russians or for regime change, then doesn’t it mean that the Ukraine is just a pawn in a geopolitical battle between two great superpowers, and that our strategy is to is to put the flower of Ukrainian youth into an avatar of death in order to exhaust Russia.”
The Democratic Party establishment will do all it can to stop Kennedy- Mark Manduca
The relationship between big business and government
Kennedy’s economic stance is interesting in that he is not anti-capitalism, but he is against big business being in bed with government to the detriment of the US public. This sentiment may appeal more to middle of the road voters than the Bernie Sanders message of democratic socialism. He stated in the same campaign announcement speech:
“My mission over the next 18 months of this campaign and over my – throughout my presidency will be to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power. That is threatening now – that is threatening now to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism on our country, to commoditise our children, our purple mountains majesty, to poison our children and our people with chemicals and pharmaceutical drugs, to strip mine our assets, to hollow out the middle class and keep us in a constant state of war.”
The environment
With a 35 plus year record of being an environmental advocate, Kennedy has a long history of successfully suing state and corporations over environmental violations. His belief is that good environmental policy and good economic policy go hand in hand and are not antithetical to each other. He also believes that preserving the environment for future generations is of the utmost importance.
Anti-woke message
Kennedy has spoken out against trans women competing in biological women’s sport, stating that: “I am against people participating in women's sports who are biologically male. I think women have worked too hard to develop women's sports over the past 30 years. I watched it happen, and I don't think that's fair.”
This position plays well with the anti-woke left, as well as Middle America and is a stronger position than President Biden who tried and failed to placate both sides by proposing a rule that would allow schools to enact some restrictions on trans athletes from participating in sports but at the same time not allow complete bans on those same trans athletes.
Biden is an unpopular president
A recent poll found the president’s national approval rating at 36%. These are not numbers that a first term president should have but are more akin to the end of an incumbent’s second term. Democratic Party voters would do well to keep this in mind when selecting who they want their nominee to be in view of the 2024 general election.
Half of democrats don’t want Biden to run again
In a March 2023 poll, 44% of democrats said they don’t want Biden to run for re-election in 2024. This is hardly a ringing endorsement of a sitting president. With such concerns from Democratic voters, this will surely aid Kennedy in his bid to attain the Democratic Party nomination as he gains more exposure.
No Democratic Party primary debates
The Democratic National Committee has said that Biden will not take part in any primary debates, this despite the fact that 79% of voters who voted for Biden in 2020 said in a recent poll that the president should engage in primary debates. This hardly shows much care for democracy and as Kennedy’s popularity grows, the failure of Biden to engage in any meaningful debate could hurt the president.
Building on the legacy of Camelot
Most Americans hold a soft spot for the presidency of Kennedy’s uncle, John F Kennedy, where his father Robert F Kennedy served as attorney general.
With both Kennedys’ lives cut short (President Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas on a political trip, while his brother Robert was killed in Los Angeles, California shortly after winning the California primary for the Democratic Party nomination), the onus will fall on RFK Jr. to build on his uncle’s legacy so that Americans may be reminded “that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment, that was known as Camelot.”
Mark Manduca has a Master’s degree in Diplomatic Studies from the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies.