For decades, the Kennedy family has been political royalty in the Democratic Party. Of course, Democrat U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy (D-MA) was elected President of the United States in 1960.
After his assassination in 1963, his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, who served as U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator from New York, became a leading presidential candidate in the 1968 Democratic Party nomination contest. Tragically, he was assassinated after winning the Democratic Party primary in California.
Other family members have served as Democrats in Congress, such as U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy II of Rhode Island. In 1980, Senator Kennedy made an unsuccessful effort to win the Democratic Party presidential nomination when he challenged the incumbent, President Jimmy Carter.
Amazingly, forty-three years later, another family member is running for President, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He announced his candidacy as a Democrat and has been campaigning for six months. His campaign has generated impressive grassroots support, even though he is challenging incumbent President Joe Biden for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
According to the latest average of polls among Democrats, Kennedy has 15.1% support, trailing Biden’s 61.6% rating. Interestingly, Kennedy has more support among Democrats than President Donald Trump’s leading contender, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, has among Republicans. In the latest poll average, DeSantis only registers the backing of 13.5% of Republicans.
In the last few months, DeSantis has received glowing media coverage from Fox News, and he was prominently featured in two televised Republican Party presidential debates. In contrast, Kennedy has been given much less media attention and has been treated like an anti-vaccine kook.
Additionally, the Democratic Party has refused to schedule any presidential debates to protect Biden from being challenged by Kennedy on a host of issues. While the Democrats are shielding Biden, Kennedy is being ignored and ridiculed.
Due to this intolerable treatment, Kennedy has scheduled “a major announcement” for October 9 in Philadelphia, PA. It is widely believed he will declare his intention to withdraw from the Democratic Party presidential primaries and launch a bid for the White House as an independent.
This is a smart decision by Kennedy, for he is going nowhere as a Democrat presidential candidate as the party’s nomination process is rigged in favor of Biden. This is what happened in 2020 when Biden was propelled to victory over U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
Sanders also was robbed of the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2016 by Hillary Clinton. In fact, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) admitted the nomination process was “rigged” to favor Clinton.
The same “rigged” process is happening today. In a letter to Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Jaime Harrison, Kennedy claimed, "The DNC and the Joe Biden campaign have essentially merged into one unit, financially and strategically, despite the promise of neutrality in its charter.” As Kennedy noted in his letter to Harrison, “The DNC is not supposed to favor one candidate over another. It is supposed to oversee a fair, democratic selection process and then support the candidate that its voters choose.”
Even Warren understands the party’s fundamental corruption. In a recent interview with Judy Woodruff of PBS, Warren said Democrats must “recognize the process was rigged, and now it is up to Democrats to build a new process…that really works and works for everyone, and as we go forward, we have confidence in the integrity of the system that Democrats, as they run a primary, are going to let the people speak and we’re going have a candidate who does the people choose a candidate. That’s our job.”
Of course, Democrats have been failing in that job for many years. With massive numbers of super delegates and rules that protect the incumbent, Democrats work overtime to prevent the voice of the people from being heard. As usual, Democrats do not care what average people believe; their only interest is protecting the political class.
For the 2024 nomination process, Democrats made South Carolina the first primary state, ending the tradition of Iowa and New Hampshire going first. This change was made to placate Biden, who gained traction in the 2020 race by winning South Carolina after losing badly in Iowa and New Hampshire.
After several months of campaigning, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a lifelong Democrat, has come to understand the entire nomination process is rigged, which is why he wants to “change the habits of American politics.” In a video announcing his upcoming speech in Philadelphia, Kennedy said he will be speaking about “a sea change in American politics.”
He said it is impossible “to win against the established Washington interests” by abiding by the “corrupt rules that the corrupt powers and vested interests have rigged to keep us all in their thrall.” Kennedy vows to “tap into a mighty surge of ‘people power’ and reclaim an honest, peaceful, just and prosperous America.”
As an independent, Kennedy will certainly attract Democrat voters due to his family’s history in the party. However, he will also interest Republican voters for his positions on many issues that are aligned with conservatives.
Kennedy has condemned our country’s escalating involvement in the Ukraine war. He has also opposed the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates and their open border policy, which is allowing millions of people to stream into our nation illegally. Kennedy has also criticized the power of government agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which he believes was involved in the assassination of both his uncle and father.
As an independent candidate for President, Kennedy’s viewpoint will be heard on these critical matters. His goal is to participate with the American people in “healing our nation.” Having vigorous debates on these critical issues can help bring our nation together.
Kennedy’s voice is being silenced as a Democrat. Becoming an independent candidate will not only boost his campaign but it will also help Americans reclaim our country.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian, and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from Noon until 1 p.m. CT nationally on Real America's Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-11 a.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com