{"id":2207116,"date":"2024-03-27T06:39:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T10:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-rfk-factor-can-kennedy-make-a-difference-in-2024\/"},"modified":"2024-03-27T06:46:16","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T10:46:16","slug":"the-rfk-factor-can-kennedy-make-a-difference-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-rfk-factor-can-kennedy-make-a-difference-in-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"The Influence of RFK: Impacting 2024?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-rfk-factor-can-kennedy-make-a-difference-in-2024%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2207116&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has selected his running mate, leading the \u2063most \u2063successful independent presidential ticket in \u200cover three decades. \u200dHis polling numbers vary\u2062 significantly, from 15% to\u200d 2%, with an average of 9.9%. Ross Perot achieved 19% in\u200c 1992. Kennedy aims to be on ballots in 50 states and debates pose uncertainties due to historical deviations \u200bin candidate impact. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has\u2063 formed \u2062the most successful independent presidential ticket\u2062 in \u200bmore than 30 years \u200cby \u200dchoosing his running mate. His\u200c polling\u200d numbers\u200d range from 15% to 2%, averaging at 9.9%, while Ross Perot achieved 19% in 1992. Kennedy&#8217;s goal is\u200b to\u2062 appear on all \u200d50 states&#8217; ballots, but uncertainties \u200dloom over debates\u200c due to historical candidate impact discrepancies.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/rfk-jr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Robert F. Kennedy Jr<\/a>. has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/2938556\/rfk-jr-selects-nicole-shanahan-as-vice-presidential-pick\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>his running mate<\/a>, completing what has so far been the highest-polling independent presidential ticket in more than 30 years.<\/p>\n<p>Not since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ross-perot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Ross Perot<\/a> first ran for president in 1992 has a candidate polled as well for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/white-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>White House <\/a>without a major-party affiliation. Perot even led former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/george-hw-bush\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>George H.W. Bush<\/a> and his eventual Democratic successor, then Arkansas Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/bill-clinton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Bill Clinton<\/a>, head-to-head at one point.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy\u2019s numbers have a much wider range. The longtime activist and son of the former attorney general, senator, and 1968 Democratic presidential candidate ranges from a high of 15% nationally in a recent Harvard-Harris poll to 2% in an <em>Economist<\/em>\/YouGov survey, both released this month. He stands at 9.9% in the <em>RealClearPolitics <\/em>polling average.<\/p>\n<p>Perot received 19% of the vote in 1992 and followed up with 8% in 1996, then as the nominee of the Reform Party.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/election-2024\/?utm_source=homepage&#038;utm_medium=banner&#038;utm_campaign=iowa_caucus&#038;utm_id=election2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ELECTION 2024: FOLLOW LATEST COVERAGE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Harvard-Harris poll looks somewhat like the 1992 final results, with the Democrat and Republican reversed \u2014\u00a0but not the incumbent and challenger. Over three decades ago, Clinton finished first with 43% of the popular vote to Bush\u2019s 38%. This time around, the aforementioned survey has former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" title>Donald Trump<\/a> at 43% and President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Joe Biden<\/a> at 38%.<\/p>\n<p>Clinton won north of 300 electoral votes in 1992. Perot did not carry a single state, though he finished second in both Maine (narrowly beating Bush) and Utah (beating Clinton).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not clear how many ballots Kennedy will appear on, though he vows it will be all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, like Perot.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There are also questions about the debates. When Perot appeared on the debate stage alongside Clinton and Bush, he won nearly a fifth of the national vote. When he was excluded from the debates four years later, he dropped to below 10%. The only other time a third-party candidate debated a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kyrsten-sinema-announces-she-wont-seek-reelection-to-senate\/\" title=\"Kyrsten Sinema won't run for Senate again\">major-party nominee<\/a> was when John Anderson took on Ronald Reagan in 1980. President Jimmy Carter, the incumbent, sat it out and debated Reagan one-on-one.<\/p>\n<p>This year, there is no guarantee that Biden and Trump will debate each other, much less Kennedy. Trump has called for debates against Biden, but boycotted all the Republican National Committee-sanctioned debates against his 2024 primary opponents, creating a precedent some believe will be invoked to justify the 81-year-old incumbent skipping them.<\/p>\n<p>Perot did well in the 1992 debates, partially overcoming voters\u2019 concerns about how he dropped out of the race, claiming Republicans were going to disrupt his daughter\u2019s wedding, and equally abruptly reentered it. Kennedy\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2577547\/spasmodic-dysphonia-what-rfk-jr-s-voice-condition-means-for-his-campaign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>spasmodic dysphonia<\/a>, an unusual voice disorder, would be another question mark on the debate stage.<\/p>\n<p>Even with all this uncertainty, third-party candidates with less support than Perot have arguably affected the outcome of presidential elections before. Green Party nominee Ralph Nader received less than 3% nationally in 2000, significantly less than the margin between Al Gore and George W. Bush, who lost the popular vote but won the election.<\/p>\n<p>Nader\u2019s impact was strongest in Florida, where he failed to crack 2% of the vote. But the consumer advocate\u2019s 97,488 easily exceeded the 537 votes by which Bush won the state, securing the Electoral College majority and the presidency.<\/p>\n<p>In 2016, Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson won 3.3% of the vote nationally. But the Green Party\u2019s Jill Stein, who won just 1.07%, was seen as having a bigger effect. That\u2019s because most of her votes were believed to have come at Hillary Clinton\u2019s expense in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/huge-sidney-powell-witness-whom-ny-times-described-as-always-the-smartest-person-in-the-room-concludes-hundreds-of-thousands-of-votes-transferred-from-trump-to-biden-in-all-battleground-states\/\" title=\"HUGE! Sidney Powell Witness Whom NY Times Described as \"Always the Smartest Person in the Room\" Concludes Hundreds of Thousands of Votes Transferred from Trump to Biden IN ALL BATTLEGROUND STATES\">key battleground states<\/a>, especially as Trump turned the Rust Belt red for the first time since the 1980s.<\/p>\n<p>The drop-off in third-party vote totals from 2016 to 2020 was believed by many analysts to be a contributing factor to Biden\u2019s election.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not entirely evident which major-party nominee stands to lose the most from Kennedy in 2024. At the moment, it appears to be Biden. Trump does slightly better in polls including Kennedy and other third-party candidates.<\/p>\n<p>But Stein, who is running again this year, and Cornel West are clearly candidates of the Left. While that is where Kennedy\u2019s background is, some of his appeal on vaccines and media bias could draw support from the Right. This includes some former backers of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) who did not like Trump\u2019s approach to COVID-19. Republicans often boosted Kennedy when he was planning to run against Biden in the Democratic primaries instead.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy is nevertheless an afterthought in much of the campaign coverage. The major parties are poised to renominate the sitting president and the previous one, who both generate copious headlines on their own. Many working political journalists have never covered a semi-serious independent or third-party campaign. And Kennedy is widely viewed as eccentric.<\/p>\n<p>But the unpopularity of Biden and Trump, who both poll below 50% in terms of favorability, creates the market for a third candidate. In the absence of a successful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/no-labels\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>No Labels<\/a> recruiting push, Kennedy appears to be the third best-known candidate.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>No third-party or independent candidate has won a state or an electoral vote other than from a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Faithless_elector\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>faithless elector<\/a> since George Wallace in 1968.<\/p>\n<p>Wallace was a regional candidate of the Deep South, carrying five states. He was also a recent former governor of Alabama who continued to run the state through his wife, Gov. Lurleen Wallace, into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kamala-who-has-not-ruled-out-packing-supreme-court-tells-conference-an-independent-judiciary-is-critical-to-a-healthy-democracy\/\" title=\"Kamala, Who Has Not Ruled Out Packing Supreme Court, Tells Conference: \u2018An Independent Judiciary Is Critical To A Healthy Democracy\u2019\">presidential election year<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has chosen his running mate, forming the most successful independent presidential ticket in over 30 years. The last candidate to achieve such high polling numbers without a major-party affiliation was Ross Perot in 1992, who even outperformed former President George H.W. Bush in polls<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2659,"featured_media":2207117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP23206739043735-1024x744.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2207116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP23206739043735-1024x744.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2207116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2207117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2207116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2207116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2207116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}