# RFK Jr Files to Run for President (Dropped Out on August 23, 2024) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 6, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260 "2023-04-06T16:36:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/461 "2024-05-22T10:45:53Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > The first part of appealing to any potential supporters is to not insult them. No, insulting supporters works just fine for Trump. So are Kennedy supporters like Democrats, for whom insulting them turns them off, or like Republicans, for whom insulting them turns them on? Impossible to tell. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Well, it seems a lot of people polled just see the Kennedy name. OK, they’re still lost causes, because Biden can’t change Kennedy’s name, and if these folks haven’t heard about, well, anything else about Kennedy (I mean, the brain worms alone should be disqualifying), then they won’t hear anything Biden says about him, either. > [@Smapti](#): > > TLDW version is that “apes” are dudebros who don’t understand stock bubbles or the stock market and finance in general and are convinced that by buying up loads of worthless stock from failing companies they’ll somehow drive the price up to millions of dollars per share, whereupon the entire economy will collapse as “the elite” are forced to bankrupt themselves paying off these shareholders who will then become the rulers of the world. And is he saying that that’s who his supporters should be, or that these folks trying to destroy the economy and take over the world are the enemy? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/462 "2024-05-22T10:52:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And is he saying that that’s who his supporters should be, or that these folks trying to destroy the economy and take over the world are the enemy? He appears to be pandering to apes by saying that he’s buying stock in Gamestop, because that’s one of the stocks they’re obsessed with. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/463 "2024-05-22T11:08:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I mean, the brain worms alone should be disqualifying Why’s that? I mean, I guess you’re joking but with some of the rhetoric I’ve seen on MSM, I’m not sure. There are parasitic worms that in rare cases can form cysts in the brain. It’s a real thing, it doesn’t tend to create cognitive issues and it can be treated. If it’s disqualifying then it should be disqualifying if a candidate has, say, survived a brain haemorrhage. Let me be clear though on RFK: I think he’s a dreadful candidate with dreadful views. I’m honestly surprised he’s still in this, but as a non-american perhaps I don’t appreciate the weight his family name still holds. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/464 "2024-05-22T12:19:26Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I’m honestly surprised he’s still in this, but as a non-american perhaps I don’t appreciate the weight his family name still holds. It’s generational. Primarily older people will be the only ones to have a visceral reaction to the name “Kennedy”. And indeed among Zoomers and younger millenials, who won’t have such a reaction, he is not doing very well. Then again, those are the least likely to vote, so take that for what it’s worth. That said, RFK’s support appears to be all over the place otherwise. It’s wide but not especially deep. Demographically, it appears to be mainly white people and tends to be higher up along the income curve. And among people who have…questionable personal views on things like vaccines and so on. And while he is drawing people from across the political spectrum, it does appear concentrated more among likely Republican voters (whiter, wealthier, ‘fringier’ beliefs), so, at the moment, more of an issue for Trump than Biden, which appears to be why Trump has been the one to show more concern over the candidacy. ETA: Oh, and should add that a lot of ‘supporters’ don’t appear to actually know or care what he’s about. There’s always a distinct minority of people who will support any third party candidate regardless of their views (which accounts for a lot of the younger support he seemingly has at the moment). And there does appear to be a fair amount of that going on. They don’t exactly help the other candidates but they mostly are not the sort to vote for any major party candidate in any event ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/465 "2024-05-22T12:53:07Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > There are parasitic worms that in rare cases can form cysts in the brain. It’s a real thing, it doesn’t tend to create cognitive issues and it can be treated. If it’s disqualifying then it should be disqualifying if a candidate has, say, survived a brain haemorrhage. In RFK Jr.’s case, though, I believe he specifically said he’d suffered some cognitive issues. Whether that’s true, though… ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/466 "2024-05-22T13:01:29Z")
It’s either true or he perjured himself during his divorce proceedings, right? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/467 "2024-05-22T16:20:07Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > as a non-american perhaps I don’t appreciate the weight his family name still holds. There is a congresscritter from Louisiana named John Kennedy who is a Pit-worthy RWAH. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/468 "2024-05-22T20:03:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > No, insulting supporters works just fine for Trump. Then why did he lose in 2020, despite the traditional advantages of incumbency? After eight years of Democratic White House control, not only would a 2016 GOP presidential victory have been expected due to the time for a change dynamic – you would also expect the Republican to win the popular vote. Instead he lost it by 2.1 percent. Trump is a weak general election candidate. While third party candidates normally fade as election day approaches, I’m less sure this will happen with Kennedy. A big reason is that Trump insults potential supporters. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/469 "2024-05-22T20:15:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, they’re still lost causes, because Biden can’t change Kennedy’s name, and if these folks haven’t heard about, well, anything else about Kennedy They might know more as info comes out. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/470 "2024-05-22T20:22:19Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Then why did he lose in 2020, despite the traditional advantages of incumbency? He barely lost despite the poor handling of COVID plus the related mass job losses and recession. He should have lost by a mile but lost by less than 100k votes spread across 3 swing states. He did astoundingly well all things considered. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2024, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/471 "2024-05-23T02:51:27Z")
Which makes me all the more worried this November… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/472 "2024-05-23T16:17:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > > > Anyone? As in, I just need one voter as a counterexample? > > Sure. Anyone who is even considering voting for Kennedy is someone whose thought processes are so bizarre as to be incomprehensible, and so it is impossible to know how to attempt to appeal to such voters, and so you might as well consider them lost causes. Sure, you might manage to attract a few, but without any rationality behind them, you’re likely to repel just as many, and it’s essentially random. You seem to be under the impression everyone looks into politics like the people who inhabit the P&E forum. I would say that’s the minority of people in general. Most people don’t study politics. They don’t research every position. There are a significant number of people that are not happy with the way they perceive things are. How they got that perception isn’t that important. Those are the people who tend to blame whoever is president. Those that are going to vote Trump are the lost cause. Those that are currently unhappy with Biden and are considering voting for Kennedy are not. If you want to throw up your hands and not go after those votes you might as well just give the election to Trump. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2024, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/473 "2024-05-23T18:13:22Z")
I just looked over the kennedy24 website policies page, and it looks like he is aiming more left-ward than right-ward. As though he is trying to peel off support more from Joe the President than from Individual-ONE’s MAGA crowd. His policy statements sound appealing to a left-wing type, although the part where he says he will “unwind” the MIC is extremely dangerous talk that relegates him to an unstable Allende-type position. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/474 "2024-05-24T04:20:07Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > As though he is trying to peel off support more from Joe the President than from Individual-ONE’s MAGA crowd. [https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/01/rfk-jr-2024-campaign-donors-00124621](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/01/rfk-jr-2024-campaign-donors-00124621) _Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is collecting checks from past Donald Trump donors at a much higher rate than former Joe Biden contributors, a sign the independent presidential hopeful may pull more from the Republican electorate than Democratic voters._ It is obvious. The GOP knows that most voters are “never trumpers” but arent big fans of Biden, so they have funded RFKjr to draw votes from Biden. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/475 "2024-05-24T12:34:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Sure. Anyone who is even considering voting for Kennedy is someone whose thought processes are so bizarre as to be incomprehensible Exactly. There’s a NY Times story on “Trump-Oprah voters,” and it’s the same deal. Idiots who are attracted to a famous name, nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/476 "2024-05-24T23:41:04Z")
[Could RFK Jr., Libertarian Party team up? How it could be a game-changer for him](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rfk-jr-libertarian-party-team-ballot-access-reverses/story?id=110537083) > [@](#): > > In April, [Kennedy told ABC News](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/robert-kennedy-jr-ruled-libertarian-run-president/story?id=109208097)that “we’re not gonna have any problems getting on the ballot ourselves so we won’t be running Libertarian.” > > But the Libertarian Party, whose national convention takes place in D.C. this weekend and culminates with the party’s delegates voting on Sunday to determine who it will nominate for the party’s presidential ticket, had [openly explored the possibility](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rfk-jr-march-ballot-independent-flirts-libertarian-party/story?id=106988729) of nominating Kennedy as its candidate. . . . > > But on Thursday night, Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle didn’t rule out the fact that Kennedy could be nominated. > > “There are still talks about it happening, so I really don’t know … I think we’ll find out at the last minute,” McArdle [told NewsNation.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ZSsk-Q0WMK0) I think there are two ways Kennedy could get a big bump in the polls. One is if Shanahan gives the campaign a couple hundred million dollars. But, so far, she acts like the Kennedy campaign is just one charity out of many. The other is if RFK Jr. got the Libertarian Party nomination. That seems another long shot to me, but if it does happen, Kennedy-Shanahan would be invited to all debates, and then, I think, get a debate bump. This isn’t because I have any idea of how good a debater he is, but because I think lots of anti-Trump anti-Biden voters will only go for Kennedy’s ticket if it has the legitimacy debates confer. P.S. The legitimacy debates confer? Here’s what I mean. I asked my sister, who has some Kennedy-adjacent health views but pays very little attention to the news (she says no attention), and she said Trump is a crook, Biden is too old, and she watches a debate to see who to vote for. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/477 "2024-05-27T00:41:23Z")
[Kennedy is out of the running.](https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/26/politics/rfk-jr-nominated-libertarian-party/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2024, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/478 "2024-05-27T01:02:13Z")
Does this mean the Sore Loser laws kick in so he won’t be able to run as an independent? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/479 "2024-05-27T01:12:32Z")
Kennedy is simply not a good fit for the Glibertarians. He wants to address problems, without privatizing the solutions. The Glibertarians are not interested in using the government to solve problems, they just want to be left alone. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2024, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260/480 "2024-05-27T01:14:33Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Does this mean the Sore Loser laws kick in so he won’t be able to run as an independent? Good question, but no. That’s because Kennedy did not run in any primaries. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rfk-jr-files-to-run-for-president-dropped-out-on-august-23-2024/982260.md?page=25)