Meddlers for RFK Jr.
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Kimberley A. Strassel writes in the WSJ
Mr. Kennedy’s announcement this week of a running mate—tech entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan—was met with louder-than-usual howls of “Spoiler!” The Democratic National Committee is assembling a team dedicated to the destruction of Mr. Kennedy and other third-party candidates, led by veteran strategist Mary Beth Cahill. Left-wing groups are already working to block Mr. Kennedy from the ballot in key swing states, rolling out liberal legal titan Marc Elias to file complaints of campaign irregularities.
It’s shaping up to be a banner year for independent candidates, and for that the major-party pols can blame themselves. The public is as excited about a Joe Biden-Donald Trump rematch as they are septic repair, one reason recent polls show Mr. Kennedy with double-digit support. Green Party contender Jill Stein is in the mix, as is leftist academic Cornel West. No Labels is on the ballot in 18 states, if still desperately seeking a candidate (anyone?). And the Libertarian Party—which consistently manages to get on all 50 state ballots—will choose a standard bearer at its national convention in May. It’s even flirting with the idea of nominating Mr. Kennedy.
None of these minor candidates have a shot of winning. But dread is now building among Democrats that these third-party campaigns are dangling in front of Republicans a ripe and tempting new tactic—one Democrats know all about, having perfected it. For more than a decade, left-wing groups have interfered in GOP primaries, boosting the candidates they consider most beatable in a general election. Only this month, a group associated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer dumped millions into highlighting the “too conservative” Ohio businessman Bernie Moreno, who won the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.
Modify this strategy for a general election and a third-party campaign. How long before GOP super PACs are running ads in swing states highlighting, say, Mr. Kennedy’s proposal to ban fracking (something Mr. Biden hasn’t done), labeling him an “extreme environmentalist”? How many young climate activists might like the sounds of that label? Imagine an ad reminding young voters—frustrated by Mr. Biden’s collapsed promises on college debt—that Ms. Stein was for student-loan forgiveness before it was cool.
And those are the subtle scenarios. Why not a GOP-funded ad on urban radio stations that directly slams Mr. Biden for his failure to help minorities and touts Mr. West? A recent article in Mother Jones posited such a “sneaky” and “weaponized” move by the GOP, under the headline: “Will RFK Jr. and Other Third-Party Candidates Help Doom Democracy?” The piece somehow failed to note that it was the Democrats who mainstreamed such tactics.
Recent elections have come down to a handful of voters in key states. Mr. Biden in 2020 eked out his Electoral College victory by 10,000 votes in Arizona, 12,000 in Georgia and 21,000 in Wisconsin. What Republicans surely understand is that they don’t necessarily need those Biden voters suddenly to pledge fealty to Mr. Trump. They simply need them not to vote for Mr. Biden a second time. It helps to flag some palatable alternatives.
Mr. Trump has already cottoned on to the potential, aided this week by Mr. Kennedy’s choice of a solidly progressive running mate. “RFK Jr. is the most Radical Left Candidate in the race, by far,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “His running mate, Nicole Shanahan, is even more ‘Liberal’ than him, if that’s possible. . . . He is Crooked Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, not mine. I love that he is running!” No doubt. Message to conservative voters: This guy is toxic and unacceptable. Message to progressive voters: Hate Biden? Feast your eyes!
The Trump comments will add to Democratic paranoia, already in evidence in their reaction to the news that a little-known heir and political donor, Tim Mellon, has this cycle given $20 million to an organization supporting the RFK Jr. campaign and $15 million for pro-Trump efforts. The donations might mean nothing, as Mr. Mellon has a history of giving money to Democratic rebels, including Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. But the DNC has already branded it meddling, declared Mr. Kennedy a “stalking horse for Trump,” and thrown up billboards in Michigan that read: “RFK Jr. powered by MAGA/Trump. Same biggest donor Timothy Mellon.”
That looks to be the Democratic strategic response for now—to drive home that any vote for a third party is a vote for Mr. Trump. And there is a risk that Republicans—if they’re too blatant—could underline that point. Then again, as Democrats have so capably proved with their own meddling, a lot of voters don’t calculate beyond top-line impressions. And so the third-party games begin.
