Kennedy could play spoiler in a close 2024 celection between President Biden and former president Trump, the GOP primary frontrunner
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared his “independence from the Democratic Party” Monday in Philadelphia, ending his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination and launching an independent bid that he said aims to heal the political divide, which he portrayed as a fiction of a corrupt establishment.
“I intend to wrest the reins of power from both parties and give to it the American people,” he said, comparing Republicans and Democrats to teenagers fighting over the steering wheel of an out-of-control car, but both following a GPS programmed by lobbyists.
“This hatred we have for each other is orchestrated,” Kennedy continued, while switching to a medieval metaphor. “My job… is to unify Americans. Then we’re all going to go over the castle walls together.”
Kennedy has struggled to gain traction in the Democratic primary, even with voters expressing a desire that someone younger take the party banner from President Joe Biden. His views on issues like vaccines and abortion has left him outside the Democratic mainstream.
“The country is sitting atop a powder keg,” Kennedy said. “Americans are angry at being left out, left behind, swindled, cheated and belittled by a smug elite that has rigged the system in its favor.”
A crowd of about 1,000 turned out on a sunny fall day to hear Kennedy speak in front of Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Some wore suits and ties, others homemade Kennedy t-shirts, hats and buttons and at least one custom-made cape. One sign read, “I want Camelot,” a reference to the mythologized Kennedy dynasty.
“There have been anti-establishment candidates before, but none of them who actually understand how to get the job done,” he said. “This time the independent is going to win.”
Kennedy said the time is ripe, citing the growing portion of Americans who tell pollsters they’re fed up with both parties — a record 63% say Republicans and Democrats do “such a poor job” of representing America that “a third major party is needed,” according to a new Gallup survey.
Still, Kennedy faces long odds. The best-performing independent presidential candidate in the past century, Ross Perot in 1992, won just 19% of the popular vote, which translated to zero Electoral College votes, since the winner of each state collects all the votes that actually determine who wins the White House.
Given that reality, Democrats are worried a third candidate on the ballot would be a spoiler for Biden, though polls show Republicans like Kennedy more than Democrats do.
“Three-quarters of Americans believe Biden is too told to govern effectively,” Kennedy said, before noting former President Donald Trump, the likely GOP nominee, is facing multiple criminal indictments.
“My intention is to spoil it for both of them,” Kennedy said.
The scion of the first family of Democratic politics said it was “very painful” for him to leave the party of his uncles (one was president, another was senator), father (former attorney general and senator), grandfather (ambassador) and great grandfather (one was a mayor and congressman, another was a city councilor), and break with their “political dynasty.”
The rest of the Kennedy family, most of whom remain committed Democrats, have been generally critical of “Bobby’s” campaign, but he took time to mention the names of several Kennedies and Shrivers who were in attendance.
“Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment,” said Rory Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and former Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II.
