Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. bears the name of a Democratic dynasty — but he may be a Democrat no more.
“You know, people have said to me, ‘Why don’t you run it as an independent?’ Because I’m a Democrat!… This is who I am. This is my identity,” Kennedy reportedly said at a NewsNation town hall in June.
That’s about to change Monday, according to a Friday report from Mediaite.
The outlet reported —
Kennedy’s campaign machine is now planning “attack ads” against the Democratic National Committee in order to “pave the way” for his announcement in Philadelphia about running as an independent, according to a text reviewed by Mediaite.
“Bobby feels that the DNC is changing the rules to exclude his candidacy so an independent run is the only way to go,” a campaign insider told Mediaite.
Kennedy, currently running for president as a Democrat, released a video previewing a major announcement to be made in Philadelphia on Monday, Oct. 9. According to ABC News, Kennedy has previously refused to rule out an independent run.
“A lot of Americans who had previously given up any hope of real change would ever come through the American electoral process have begun to find new hope in my candidacy,” Kennedy said in the video.
“I want to tell you now what I’ve come to understand after six months of campaigning: there is a path to victory. The hope we are feeling isn’t some kind of trick in the mind.”
In the past, Kennedy has expressed dissatisfaction with today’s Democrats. “I want my party back. I want my party to be… the party that I grew up in. The party of John Kennedy, the party of Robert Kennedy, the party of FDR and Harry Truman,” Kennedy reportedly said in June at the town hall.
The feeling is mutual. Democratic voters want little to do with Kennedy.
Most primary voters are backing Biden, according to every poll aggregated by FiveThirtyEight. Matt Bennett, co-founder of the Clintonesque policy institute Third Way, has publicly hoped for Kennedy to “go away” after losing the primaries.
Plus, Kennedy could pull about one in seven voters as an independent candidate, according to a Reuters-Ipsos poll from earlier this month.
Now, with Kennedy nearly certain to lose the Democratic primary, Democrats have accused him of a last-ditch attempt to get on the ballot.
Independent candidates have received only three electoral votes across the entire history of presidential elections, and third-party candidates have hardly fared any better. Still, Kennedy may try, anyway.
Kennedy even met with Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle in July, according to a September interview with McArdle.
However, Kennedy’s team has denied any ambitions for a third-party bid.
Campaign manager Dennis Kucinich said last month that there’s “no truth” to the rumors about Kennedy preparing to run as a Libertarian. By meeting with the Libertarian Party chair, Kennedy was simply offering “further proof of Mr. Kennedy’s appeal across the political spectrum,” Kucinich added.
Kennedy’s team has remained quieter on the rumors about an independent run.
The Horn editorial team