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| Dear Friend, |
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| Robert F Kennedy Jr. rocked Arizona, and the Associated Press
couldn’t help but report the news. |
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| While we are pleased our campaign continues to garner great
coverage, what we are most excited about are voters like you –
Americans who are going to pull the lever for RFK Jr. |
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| Here are what a few of our supporters shared for the
record (and you can read the entire post below): |
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| “I like that I can trust him. I think he’s honest.” |
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| “And even if I don’t agree with him, I know that he came to
his conclusions honestly. I can’t trust any of the other
people.” |
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| “I like that he talks to us like adults.” |
|
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| Trust. Honesty. Authenticity. These are the characteristics of RFK
Jr. |
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| These should be the characteristics of your next President. |
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| With
your continued support, the MainStream Media and others will have no
choice except to cover our campaign for the White House. |
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| Together, we can heal the divide, restore a prosperous and healthy
middle class, compete economically around the world, and protect our
rights. |
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| Team Kennedy |
| TeamKennedy.com |
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JONATHAN J. COOPER ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOENIX | Some
voted for Donald Trump, others for Joe Biden. A few had never wanted
anything to do with politics before they heard Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
on a podcast or YouTube video. |
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| Lined up outside a Phoenix wedding hall
tucked between a freeway, a railroad track and a U-Haul rental center,
the hundreds of people who turned out Wednesday to hear Mr. Kennedy
speak shared little in common ideologically. What united them was a
deep-seated distrust — of the media, of corporations and especially of
the government — and a belief that Mr. Kennedy is the only person in
politics willing to tell them the truth. |
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| “I like that he talks to us like adults,”
said Gilbert Limon, a 48-year-old pharmacist from Phoenix. “He tells
you the majority of what you need to know. Whereas I feel like [other
politicians] just give you bits and pieces to try to fit their agenda.
I’ve had enough of that.” |
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| Voters are not enthusiastic about a
Biden-Trump rematch, and alternatives like Mr. Kennedy or the No
Labels third party movement, which would typically be long shots, see
an opening. Mr. Kennedy’s appearance in a 2024 battleground state
highlights how he could influence the election in ways that are tough
to predict. Allies of both Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden have expressed
concerns that Mr. Kennedy’s independent bid could pull votes from
their candidate in next year’s expected general election rematch. |
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| Candidates from outside the Republican and
Democratic parties rarely make a splash, if they can make the ballot
to begin with. But third-party candidates don’t usually carry a famous
last name like Mr. Kennedy’s, or his existing network of
supporters. |
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| Mr. Kennedy made the stop in Phoenix as
part of his laborious push to get access to the 2024 presidential
ballot as an independent candidate, which he figures will require him
to collect at least 1 million signatures across the country. Aides
mingled in the crowd, filling up his petitions to qualify in
Arizona. |
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| Ballot access for independent and
minor-party candidates is an expensive and complicated process, with
each state setting its own rules. Campaigns usually hire people to
collect signatures and enlist an army of lawyers to fight for ballot
access. |
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| American Values 2024, a super PAC
supporting Mr. Kennedy, has pledged to spend $15 million to help him
get on the ballot in 10 states. Mr. Kennedy secured a victory in Utah,
where the lieutenant governor pushed back the deadline to qualify from
January to March after Mr. Kennedy filed suit. |
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| Mr. Kennedy is a member of one of the
Democratic Party’s most famous families — his father was the attorney
general for his uncle, President John F. Kennedy. But he’s more
recently built closer ties to the far right, where his conspiratorial
and isolationist views are at home. |
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| Enriqueta Porras, a 52-year old physician
from Phoenix, voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Mr. Trump in 2020.
She said she’s torn about the third-party conundrum. She’d like to
vote for someone she believes in, like Mr. Kennedy, but also wants to
make sure Mr. Biden loses and may vote strategically. |
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| “I don’t want to be that person,” Ms.
Porras said, “but I feel like there’s a lot at stake and that may just
have to happen.” |
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| One of the nation’s most prominent
anti-vaccine activists, Mr. Kennedy has long had a loyal following of
people who reject the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe and
effective, and they form the backbone of his presidential
campaign. |
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| Among the dozen Kennedy supporters who
spoke to The Associated Press in Phoenix, many share his view that
corporations, especially drug companies, wield too much power. |
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| Curt Eastin, a 65-year-old professional
coach from Chandler, a Phoenix suburb, voted for Mr. Biden in 2020 but
won’t again. If Mr. Kennedy weren’t running, he’d vote for Mr. Trump
next year, he said. |
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| “I like that I can trust him. I think he’s
honest,” he said. “And even if I don’t agree with him, I know that he
came to his conclusions honestly. I can’t trust any of the other
people.” |
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| Mr. Kennedy is keenly aware that his fans
avoid the mainstream media. He said he’s drawing support from young
people but struggling with people in his generation. |
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| “The problem with the baby boomers, I
think, is they get their news from MSNBC, Fox and CNN,” he told the
crowd in Phoenix, which responded with boos. “Whereas young people are
getting their news from podcasts and other alternative sources.” |
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| Third party or independent candidates
rarely do well in presidential contests. Even the most successful
recent example, Ross Perot in 1992, didn’t win a single electoral vote
despite winning 19% of the popular vote. |
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| Sometimes, minor-party candidates will get
enough votes that partisans will blame them for tipping the scales to
elect the popular vote loser, like Ralph Nader in 2000 or Jill Stein
in 2016, both Green Party candidates. |
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| “One of the biggest reasons I like him is
because of his stance on partisanship in our House and our Senate, and
I like how he wants to try and reunite both of them,” said Michael
Chacon, a 23-year-old student in Tempe who has never voted and still
wasn’t sure whether he will in 2024. “I think that’s a really good
idea. I think cooperation would go a long way.” |
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| Copyright (c) 2023 Washington Times,
Edition 12/28/2023 |
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