Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running for president as an independent candidate, announced on Tuesday that California lawyer and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan will be the vice presidential candidate on his ticket.
That will likely produce a big shrug of the shoulders and “who cares?” for many, because Kennedy, Jr. likely won’t have a chance of winning against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and likely Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
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But digging a little deeper, Kennedy Jr.’s announcement will actually have some significance for two reasons, which correlate with each other.
One, choosing a vice presidential candidate means the 70-year-old Kennedy Jr. is in the race to stay. Two, him staying in the race could seriously impact who does win the White House come November.
We’ll start with the first point in that Kennedy Jr. intends to stay in the race, and choosing Shanahan will likely help him do so for multiple reasons.
By having a running mate, Kennedy Jr. meets criteria required by 24 states to be listed on ballots, according to The Hill.
Having Shanahan, who has fundraising experience, will also help Kennedy Jr. build up a war chest of money that will be necessary to stay afloat through the election season.
Finally, having Shanahan as a running mate for Kennedy Jr. will be good for public perception and potentially to voters who know he’ll be in it for the long haul.
As for that long haul, the second reason choosing Shanahan as his running mate has significance is that it will impact who will win between Biden and Trump.
More specifically, Kennedy Jr.’s candidacy could very well hurt Biden and be an asset for Trump, according to Forbes.
Earlier this month, the Democratic National Committee hired a team to come up with communication strategies that will go against Kennedy Jr. and other third-party candidates.
A huge voter turnout paid dividends for Biden in 2020 and would likely do so again in November, but Kennedy Jr. would be a threat to take enough votes from Biden to where it would hurt the current president significantly.
Polls conducted by Siena College, Reuters, Harvard CAPS-Harris and Quinnipiac University have backed up that belief, and propping up third-party candidates would be a strategy the Trump campaign would likely employ.
Kennedy Jr. comes from arguably the most famous political family in American history. He is the nephew of President John. F. Kennedy and the son of Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated while running for president in 1968.
An environmental lawyer who has drawn controversy for an anti-vaccine stance, he has never held a political office.