Among the political titans that dominate contemporary American politics, there is a dark horse candidate; a wildcard who may play a pivotal role in influencing the 2024 presidential election. Robert F Kennedy Jr., the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, had a successful career as an environmental lawyer before entering into politics. In a wild maneuver, he is disrupting the two-party election cycle by running as an independent candidate.
Kennedy started his campaign as a Democrat but received little support from the Democratic National Committee who are firmly backing President Biden as the party candidate for 2024. His departure has drawn disapproval from many Democrats including members of the Kennedy family who believe he will tip the scales away from President Biden in the next election. Kennedy has appealed to a significant portion of moderate Democrats and Republicans due to several of his nonpartisan policies such as restoring civil liberties, promising to eliminate the surveillance on Americans and end the war on drugs. He confirmed his shift from the Democrats with an independence-themed speech in Philadelphia. In that address he outlined key policy goals, putting the current partisan establishment on blast. Contrasting his independent grassroots initiatives with the entrenched Republican and Democratic parties, who are influenced by their corporate handlers. He said, “We declare independence from the corporations that have hijacked our government,” directly calling out: Wall Street, Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Agriculture corporations, and the military-industrial complex. Kenedy also went on to lambast the state of domestic media observing that it “urges us to hate our neighbors, and to fear our friends.” In the speech, he also reaffirmed the notion that corporations and their lobbyists have been massively detrimental to the authenticity of the democratic processes. Stating that corrupt interests have “turned government officials into indentured servants for their corporate bosses.”
Kennedy did not have many friends in the media or the Biden administration and preemptively requested the protection of the Secret Service, which is only required to protect candidates within 120 days of the election but was denied his request. Given that both Kennedy’s father and uncle were assassinated during their presidential campaigns it is quite understandable why Kennedy fears for his safety. His skepticism over the safety and long-term side effects of rapidly developed vaccines during the pandemic has created controversy in the media.
A central focus of Kennedy’s campaign has been helping the poor and middle class. In a video posted to his Instagram, Kennedy highlights the issues of the cost of housing, inflation, and corporate monopolies. Deeply concerned with how the existing loopholes favoring the rich and mega-corporations are exacerbating the plight of the next generation of Americans. Kennedy has gained a considerable base of bipartisan supporters, becoming a threat to the partisan election norms of contemporary politics. While independent candidates have failed to overcome the two-party system in the past, it has been proven that they can dramatically affect the outcome of elections. Should Kennedy be elected he would be the first president since George Washington to be elected independently of the two-party system.
