Attorney Kerry Kennedy, the daughter of the late U.S. Senator and Attorney General Robert Kennedy (and niece of President John F. Kennedy), joined over a dozen of her siblings and cousins in Philadelphia yesterday to endorse President Joe Biden in the 2024 election.
Kerry Kennedy and President Biden embrace at the lectern in Philadelphia following the family's endorsement of his reelection campaign.
Stating that “only two candidates have a chance to be elected president,” and that her late father would have been "horrified" by the "anti-Democratic" Donald Trump, Kennedy's endorsement of the Biden-Harris ticket was critically important because of who she and the remaining Kennedy clan did NOT endorse—her brother, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—the independent candidate for president who has been heavily embraced by MAGA Republicans due to their beliefs that his Kennedy name alone will pull enough Democratic votes away from Biden to aid the Trump reelection efforts.
Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr.
To keep it real, I, like most people, have had serious disagreements with members of my own family a time or two throughout my nearly 52 years on Earth. And yet, when I was thinking about the optics of yesterday's Kennedy family press conference, I closed my eyes to imagine if a member of the extended Hobbs or Williams (maternal family) clans were to seek public office while espousing views that were contrary to my own, would I take to this blog or social media to support their opponent?
Yeah, I absolutely would use my pulpit to oppose their weak ideology while supporting my own!
As I have mentioned many times through the years, I'm no fan of 3rd party or independent presidential candidacies simply because THEY CAN NOT WIN! Whether it was former Republican President Teddy Roosevelt running under the Bull Moose Party brand in 1912, John Anderson running as an independent in 1980, Ross Perot running in '92, or more recent off-brand politicos like Ralph Nader in 2000 or Gary Johnson and Jill Stein in 2016, they all had a snowball’s chance in Hell of winning the White House but by running, they severely hurt the chances of either the Democrat or Republican nominee that most aligned with their own ideologies that year.
To make it crystal clear, but for Johnson and Stein in 2016, Hillary Clinton very likely gets the "W" that year! But for Ralph Nader in 2000, and Al Gore likely defeats George W. Bush; but for Ross Perot in '92, and George H.W. Bush may have fended off Bill Clinton instead of losing that November to the former Democratic Governor of Arkansas.
Clearly, the Kennedy clan knows this history as well as Ol' Hobbs, but if you're still skeptical of their reasons for shunning their own brother/cousin RFK, or my anti-3rd party positions herein, take a few minutes to watch the following YouTube video from the Associated Press to understand why RFK's 2024 candidacy is an exercise in futility for Democrats and progressive leaning voters—and a potential boon for the Trump ticket!