Dem
51
GOP
49
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used to work as an environmental lawyer. Now almost 50 people who worked with him are running an ad attacking him, saying: "Honor our planet, drop out." This is significant because one of the things he is running on is his record as an environmental lawyer. But if his former colleagues think he is running in bad faith, that isn't going to help. The ad is a full-page print ad running in newspapers in six swing states. Here is the body of the ad:
Separate from this ad, a dozen other environmental organizations have posted an open letter denouncing Junior and his views on the environment. It says that by rejecting science, he is as bad as Trump.
Many prominent individuals who have worked on fighting climate change are also going after him. Gina McCarthy, who was EPA administrator under Barack Obama, said: "If folks remember him as an environmentalist, he is no more. He's against science, he's against vaccines, he talks jibber jabber on climate."
Allies of Trump think Kennedy may damage Biden more than he damages Trump, so they are pushing him as some kind of environmental hero. Steve Bannon is quite open about it: "The path to victory here is clearly maximizing the reach of these left-wing alternatives." Not so fast, Steve. A new NBC News poll has Trump ahead of Biden nationally by 2 points in a head-to-head poll, 46% to 44%. Yet when Kennedy, Jill Stein, and Cornel West are thrown into the hopper, the result is Biden 39%, Trump 37%, Kennedy 13%, Stein 3%, and West 2%. The poll specifically asked who switched. It turns out that 7% of the Biden voters jumped to Kennedy when he was an option, but 15% of the Trump voters jumped ship.
This is just one poll, but it shows that while Republican politicians may have been rooting for Kennedy initially, he may end up being more of an anchor on their team than on Biden's in the end. And the Democrats have yet to start ratfu**ing, and running ads talking about RFK Jr. as the best candidate for anti-vaxxers (who tend to be Trumpy, or at least right-wing).
Kennedy is now the official nominee of the Natural Law Party, which puts him on the Michigan ballot. The Natural Law Party is an offshoot of the Transcendental Meditation Movement. Kennedy is also on the ballot in Utah and Hawaii so far. He is trying to get on the ballot in all 50 states. (V)