Is Bannon's support of RFK jr.'s POTUS candidacy all you need to know?

Politics & Elections
1

For me, it’s more than sufficient. If Bannon’s supporting it, then it’s evil and destructive and racist, authoritarian-friendly, and that’s all I need to know.

I say this as a huge fan of RFK sr. and as a former colleague of RFK jr (on environmental issues in NY state). If Bannon’s for it, I’m agin it.

He’s way beyond the point of keeping an open mind, passed that point speeding years ago.

In fact, I canceled my New Yorker subscription a few years ago when they invited him to speak at one of their symposia. We don’t need to hear pro-Nazi propaganda, I reasoned, and it was a grievous error in making their platform available to him. Let him speak to other Nazis, no need to give him your platform to pretend to be a reasonable person on it, I figured.

2

It’s more than sufficient for me too.

I’m not sure RFK Jr’s deal is racist or not, but it’s certainly antiscience, and that’s enough.

3

RFK Jr.’s support of RFK Jr.’s positions, on most everything, is all you need to know.

4

I didn’t even need the confirmation of Steve “The Prince of Elemental Evil” Bannon’s support. Robert Kennedy, Jr’s anti-vaccination and conspiranoia is enough on its own to invalidate him as a legitimate candidate for dogcatcher, much less President. Having Bannon endorse him is like pouring molasses on fruitcake; it just makes an awful thing even worse.

Stranger

5

Yes, I understand. But I’d say that much of his (astonishing, to me) 19% support in a recent poll (sorry, no cite–I heard on the radio a few days ago) stems from either general anti-Biden feelings or a lack of knowledge of RFK’s positions on anything. Maybe a few Democratic anti-vaxxers, Bill Maher fans, and the like but that can’t be more than 5%, can it?

The Bannon endorsement ought to signify something to any Dem voter, I should think. Kiss of death. End of story sort of thing.

6

I think he has a great name in the Democratic Party if you don’t know anything else about him, and I’d venture more than 20% of the voters don’t know anything more about him.

His numbers will fall off if he continues in the race.

7

I think this is the answer. I suspect that most voters are low-information voters, and that 19% “support” is probably based largely on simple name recognition, rather than any overt support for RFK Jr.'s wacky views.

8

Yeppers, at this point in time, if there were a follow-up question that asked these 19% of individuals, “Could you point to a picture of RFK Jr. in this selection of 4 photos?” I would bet a lot of money that 80% of the respondents would fail.

9

I think he looks quite a bit like his dad, actually.

10

I’m not sure how much that means to anyone who isn’t old enough to remember the Cuban Missile Crisis.

11

Hell, I know who he is, and why I’d never vote for him, and I’d probably* fail this test.

*25% of lucky, right?

12

My mom is a Random Boomer Lady who knows nothing about him, and excitedly brought him up as a viable alternative for me (a very Liberal GenX Democrat) when she heard Biden was running again.

She definitely doesn’t know anything about him other than his name. If she had answered a phone poll of RFK Jr. vs Biden vs Trump she would have definitely chosen RFK.

13

Literally.

All you need is a name. Most people don’t understand or care about policy.

Stranger

14

Remember it? Hell, I’m still hiding under my desk!

15

And that my friends, is what will (continue to) doom our democracy.

16

Here’s an article about RFK’s candidacy that manages not to mention Bannon’s name, but which does provide a cite for his 19% support.

17

Same here, and same here, and I would definitely fail the test. Faces are not what I do best, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an actual photo of him anyway.

18

Could be, but RFK Jr. still has no chance. The reflexive Democratic primary any-man-but-Biden, or anyone-I-think-I’ve-heard-of-except-Biden, vote is his ceiling, and he’s already got that 20 percent or so. No biggie.

And our democracy, while in some danger, isn’t doomed. Its future depends on human decisions not yet made, and events.

19

I was an attendee at our state’s Boy State (a mock government sponsored by the American Legion). My cousin was also there that year. He was a great speaker, attractive to the point of being distinguished looking, almost like a Kennedy, and quite intelligent. He ran and won the Governor election.

We had the last name, and I had previously decided to run for a seat on the state Supreme Court. I ended up winning my seat! Asking some participants who said they voted for me why they did so, it was all due to my cousin heading up the ballot. It was a real learning experience to me.

20

I saw RFK Jr speaking on environmental issues almost 20 years ago. He didn’t come across as crazy or anything, just someone who cared about what big business was doing, such as mountains being leveled in West Virginia in order to get coal, etc.

Then, I didn’t see him again for a very long time. Not sure why. I just didn’t see or hear much from him.

Then, I saw him again during the pandemic, and he was spreading lies about vaccines. So, he must have undergone a horrible change. I don’t think he was a conspiracy theorist type years ago.

And yes, if Bannon is for him, that by itself should disqualify him.