Richard Hofstadter
Robert F. Kennedy remains somewhat of an enigma. Kennedy tried to run as a Democrat but the Biden Administration and the Democrats would have none of that. Believing that Kennedy would siphon off votes from Joe they attempted to isolate Kennedy from the Democrat Party. Biden did not allow Secret Service protection and hindered Kennedy's attempt to use Democrat finances and services for his campaign. The Democrats made it hard for Kennedy to register supporters in the states to keep him off the ballot but Kennedy persevered and got the signatures he needed. Ironically. Kennedy is trying to get himself off the ballots in swing states to help Trump get elected. Naturally, the Biden-Harris organization wants to keep Kennedy on the ballot now to siphon votes away from Trump. It is complicated.
Kennedy appeals to Democrat and Republican voters dissatisfied with the established party candidates and their policies. Kennedy comes down somewhere between Trump and Biden, now Kamala Harris.
If you have been watching television or listening to the radio, you have witnessed the
coming together of Donald Trump and Bobby Kennedy. One wonders how this could happen. We are mixing oil and water. Can an avowed leftist with socialist leanings work with the conservative standard-bearer of free enterprise, free speech, and "Drill Baby Drill?"
"HEALTH AND VACCINES
He disputes the anti-vaccine tag, but chaired the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit organization that focuses on anti-vaccine messaging.
He told Reuters every American who wants a vaccine for themselves or their children will have access to them if he is elected president, but said he doubted the efficacy of measles vaccines and would increase scrutiny of the efficacy and potential consequences of the preventive treatments.
Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses and is almost entirely preventable through vaccination. It requires 95% vaccine coverage to prevent outbreaks among populations. However, U.S. coverage rates have fallen below that level among young children, the CDC reports." 1
"FOREIGN POLICY
Kennedy defends Israel's right to respond to Hamas's Oct. 7 attack with its strikes on Gaza and questioned the value of a temporary ceasefire, arguing it will only allow Hamas to rearm itself.
He makes a distinction between moral wars that must be fought and wars of choice, which should be avoided. He says the Vietnam War and World War I were wars of choice for the United States, while Israel had a moral obligation to respond with force to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack."
He believes the international community - and the United States - could have done more to help Israel deal with the Hamas threat and avoid the conflict.
Kennedy has called the Russia-Ukraine war an “unnecessary war”that should be settled "through negotiations, through diplomacy, through statecraft, and not through weapons.”
Kennedy has been a frequent critic of America's involvement in supporting Ukraine against Russia's invasion, which he has repeatedly referred to as a "proxy war" that he claimed on social media platform X is being fought "all for the sake of U.S. (imagined) geopolitical interests."2
"ABORTION RIGHTS
Kennedy has previously taken different positions on the issue, including restrictions on when a woman can access an abortion. He told Reuters he thought every abortion was a "tragedy" but that it should be a woman's right "throughout the pregnancy."
Late-term abortions are "horrible, but I don't think that there's any woman in the world would want to carry a baby to eight months and then have an abortion" without some extenuating circumstance." 3
Some other features of Kennedy's platform are:
HOUSING
Kennedy wants to provide tax-free, 3% government-backed mortgage bonds, to bring the mortgage interest rate back to 2019 levels and even lower. 4
EDUCATION
He supports allowing students to refinance their student loans at lower interest rates to reduce monthly payments and backs a separate plan to abolish interest on new and existing student loans that failed to get through U.S. Congress in 2022.
Kennedy is also campaigning on placing the responsibility on colleges and universities, instead of loan institutions and banks, when it comes to loan defaults in an effort to incentivize universities to lower tuition costs. 5
IMMIGRATION
Kennedy views the situation at the southern border as a humanitarian crisis. He
has pledged to focus on securing the border with a goal of ending illegal immigration while expanding America’s lawful immigration system.
He wants to hire more immigration judges and agents to help prevent more illegal crossings and more quickly deal with proper asylum claims.
He opposes former President Donald Trump's plan to build a wall along the southern border and says he prefers to utilize technology such as cameras, lights, and motion detectors to deter crossings.
He has also been deeply critical of Biden's management of the southern border, even backing Texas in its dispute over security measures at the border.
“Texas is right. Biden’s failure to secure the border leaves states no choice but to take matters into their own hands,” Kennedy wrote in a post on X. 6
BIDEN'S CLIMATE BILL
Kennedy vows to repeal key elements of President Joe Biden's signature climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides billions in tax credits to industries like hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel to accelerate the transition to a green economy.
He says most of the tax breaks will benefit the oil industry and help them to stay in business by giving them tools to lower their carbon footprint - such as carbon sequestration - while continuing to operate. 7
The Trump/Kennedy alliance has flummoxed the Democrats who could not fathom that Kennedy would throw in with Trump. What did they expect? The Democrats/Communists have thrown Kennedy under the bus. They have tried to stymie him at every turn, even denying him Secret Service protection. Keep in mind that Kennedy's father and uncle were killed by assassins.
As long as Trump monitors Kennedy's actions in the government and Kennedy abides by Trump's rules, I think hiring Bobby Kennedy can work out. It certainly pisses off the Demos so I am all for it. Don't forget, Donald Trump knows how to say You're fired!
Resources
Reuters Staff Writers, RFK Jr. on abortion, vaccines, housing and foreign policy, Reuters, March 20, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/rfk-jr-abortion-vaccines-housing-foreign-policy-2024-03-20/
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