Three Ironclad Reasons MAGA Voters Should Celebrate the Kennedy Independent Run

Topic: Elections

Yesterday, when it was announced Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., would remain in the 2024 presidential race as an independent candidate, a familiar panic ensued in various corners of the internet, with many Trump supporters lamenting what they feel will be Kennedy’s detrimental impact on Trump’s odds of being elected in 2024.  Many Republican voters have flashbacks to the last formidable independent candidate, H. Ross Perot, who is often wrongly attributed as having ushered in Bill Clinton’s regrettable eight years at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Much of this dread is caused by cognitive dissonance, groupthink, or by an unwillingness to apply critical thought to perceive what it is that the larger electorate holds most dear for issues leading into what is shaping up to be a war of a quasi-election next autumn.  For example, while many users on social media platforms that sprang up because of big-tech censorship are rigid ideologues, those who limit social media usage and simply show up at the polls every four years aren’t as tightly wound over every political nuance.  They just know things suck and they didn’t suck just four years ago.

They may certainly have an axe to grind over vaccine injuries and might be trying to figure out who to blame, but the fact remains that while nearly every voter has a definitive political leaning, most are not political on a day-to-day basis.  Like with baseball, hot streaks happen, and sometimes the candidate with the hottest hand on Election Day reaps the rewards against the established political grain - or at least they did in the days before widespread election manipulation.

Rather than buying into panic, I’m reading the other indicators around the political whirlwind.  That is why I believe Trump supporters should be excited over the Kennedy candidacy for the following three reasons:

I.               Read the Room

Why aren’t left-wing pontificators excited about Kennedy’s plan?  They had to know this would happen, given the DNC’s unwillingness to give Kennedy a chance to debate Joe Biden.  Instead, look at the response.  A week ahead of time, Newsweek mourned the potential Kennedy campaign, and cautioned that it would take a possible ugly reckoning for Biden and turn it into a massive wipeout against him:

If the Democrats and Republicans nominate Biden and Trump respectively, and Kennedy runs as an independent, 33 percent of Democratic voters would "likely" vote for him according to the poll, including 14 percent who would be "very likely" to back him.

Among likely voters as a whole, 25 percent said they would likely vote for Kennedy if he runs against Biden and Trump, including 14 percent of Republicans, with 10 percent saying they are "very likely" to cast their ballots this way.

I bet you’re still worried about that “14 percent” of Republicans who would vote for Kennedy according to the poll.  In any given election, a not-insignificant number of one party’s voters vote for someone other than their party’s nominee.  Trump picked up Reagan Democrats, and Clinton and Biden picked up Bush Republicans.  But according to Newsweek, Democrats lose base voters at a 2.4:1 ratio over Republicans with a Kennedy independent run.

Furthermore, Kennedy has decried the lack of Secret Service protection offered to his campaign.  Pardon me for being grim, but if Biden was counting on Kennedy derailing the populist Trump train, he would take every measure to ensure Kennedy stayed safe and alive in an age of growing political unrest.  Instead, he’s putting him out there on his own dime to fend off any potential assailants.

II.             Who is Kennedy Going to Take from MAGA?