It seems that the “white hope” of the 2024 presidential election (in many eyes) has chosen a running mate. This makes the election more problematic, and more of a mess.
Robert F Kennedy Jr. has chosen Nicole Shanahan, a California “criminal justice” activist and long-time (relatively – she looks pretty young) supporter of Democrats and regressive causes. This seems to contradict RFKJr’s claim to have divorced himself and his campaign from the Democratic Party. Especially since one of the objects of campaign donations as Uncle Joe himself. (Of course, that was four years ago: we bet that RFKJr donated some cash to Uncle Joe that year.)
Several people point out that perhaps he is just “polishing” his “progressive credentials” and even figuring he will therefore suck more votes from the current occupant of 1600 PA.
And there are at least some so-called Libertarians who seem to be pushing RFKJr for the Libertarian Party nomination. Not quite a fusion ticket, since he claims to have split from ALL political parties. (Which shows that even some of these nominal Libertarians themselves don’t think of the LP as a “real” political party.
Frankly, that would be a worse disaster than nominating Bob Barr a few years back (2008). RFKJr’s published positions may be different from the two men currently on the ballot for November. But not necessarily better in any substantial way. (A hurricane is different from a blizzard or a tornado – but surely is not “better.”
And indeed, it may be a moot point. He is only on the ballot in Utah: the “backward State of Hatu” which currently has the increasingly liberal John Kerry – whoops, excuse me, Mitt Romney as one of their Senators. Supposedly he is “nearly” on the ballot in three to six other States. Selecting a running mate will let his organization begin collecting signatures in 23 States.
Is he a spoiler? Americans have done so well with spoiler candidates in the past: especially when the nations are so starkly divided. The classic case? The 1860 election, where not one but TWO alternatives to the red Republican Lincoln and the hapless Democrat Douglas threw the election (barely) to Honest Abe and four years of bloody war.
There are others: In 2016, Jill Stein and the Green Party got just enough votes in Wisconsin, about 1%, to tip that state away from Hillary Clinton toward Donald Trump; (Trump won Wisconsin by just 22,748 votes; Jill Stein got 31,072 votes). In 1992, Ross Perot got 19% of the popular vote. In 1968, George Wallace’s third party won five states. In 1912, Teddy Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party got more votes and won more states than the Republican Party with William Taft. As a result, Woody Wilson came to power and we enjoyed his “improvements” on Honest Abe’s and Teddy’s increases of federal tyranny.
Praying that is not the result of this current election silliness, according to some observers believe that RFKJr could “steal” enough votes from Biden in battleground States to swing those electoral votes to The Donald camp.
Whatever the outcome, the election in November is very unlikely to resolve any of the conflicts fragmenting States and Americans overall. Indeed, highly likely to make them worse. According to polls, many Americans will be very angry if The Donald gets a detached term, and not quite as many if Uncle Joe gets to stay in the White House.
If, indeed, there is an election in November. Jeffrey Tucker, a staunch Libertarian, stated in a Paradigm interview that he will be “pleasantly surprised” if there is a presidential election in November. He expects an attempt by the current regime to postpone it until January 2025 – “if” conditions improve. The excuse will be, he opines, misinformation and disinformation and Republicans embracing an insurrectionist and therefore planning to overthrow democratic government.
We here at TPOL point out that this election mess points out once again that government has been given so much power, so much control, and so much wealth, that every election is “the most important” in our lifetime (to date) and the stakes are so high that there are no limits to what can be done to prevent someone from gaining or keeping that power.
The solution is simple but very hard: reduce the power of the FedGov to what it was before Honest Abe, if not clear back to the Articles of Confederation. But of course, don’t hold your breath. We aren’t.
In 2016, Jill Stein and the Green Party got just enough votes in Wisconsin, about 1%, to tip that state away from Hillary Clinton toward Donald Trump; (Trump won Wisconsin by just 22,748 votes; Jill Stein got 31,072 votes).
About TPOL Nathan
Follower of Christ Jesus (a christian), Pahasapan (resident of the Black Hills), Westerner, Lover of Liberty, Free-Market Anarchist, Engineer, Army Officer, Husband, Father, Historian, Writer, Evangelist. Successor to Lady Susan (Mama Liberty) at TPOL.
The Price of Liberty 
Same old, same old
It seems that the “white hope” of the 2024 presidential election (in many eyes) has chosen a running mate. This makes the election more problematic, and more of a mess.
Robert F Kennedy Jr. has chosen Nicole Shanahan, a California “criminal justice” activist and long-time (relatively – she looks pretty young) supporter of Democrats and regressive causes. This seems to contradict RFKJr’s claim to have divorced himself and his campaign from the Democratic Party. Especially since one of the objects of campaign donations as Uncle Joe himself. (Of course, that was four years ago: we bet that RFKJr donated some cash to Uncle Joe that year.)
Several people point out that perhaps he is just “polishing” his “progressive credentials” and even figuring he will therefore suck more votes from the current occupant of 1600 PA.
And there are at least some so-called Libertarians who seem to be pushing RFKJr for the Libertarian Party nomination. Not quite a fusion ticket, since he claims to have split from ALL political parties. (Which shows that even some of these nominal Libertarians themselves don’t think of the LP as a “real” political party.
Frankly, that would be a worse disaster than nominating Bob Barr a few years back (2008). RFKJr’s published positions may be different from the two men currently on the ballot for November. But not necessarily better in any substantial way. (A hurricane is different from a blizzard or a tornado – but surely is not “better.”
And indeed, it may be a moot point. He is only on the ballot in Utah: the “backward State of Hatu” which currently has the increasingly liberal John Kerry – whoops, excuse me, Mitt Romney as one of their Senators. Supposedly he is “nearly” on the ballot in three to six other States. Selecting a running mate will let his organization begin collecting signatures in 23 States.
Is he a spoiler? Americans have done so well with spoiler candidates in the past: especially when the nations are so starkly divided. The classic case? The 1860 election, where not one but TWO alternatives to the red Republican Lincoln and the hapless Democrat Douglas threw the election (barely) to Honest Abe and four years of bloody war.
There are others: In 2016, Jill Stein and the Green Party got just enough votes in Wisconsin, about 1%, to tip that state away from Hillary Clinton toward Donald Trump; (Trump won Wisconsin by just 22,748 votes; Jill Stein got 31,072 votes). In 1992, Ross Perot got 19% of the popular vote. In 1968, George Wallace’s third party won five states. In 1912, Teddy Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party got more votes and won more states than the Republican Party with William Taft. As a result, Woody Wilson came to power and we enjoyed his “improvements” on Honest Abe’s and Teddy’s increases of federal tyranny.
Praying that is not the result of this current election silliness, according to some observers believe that RFKJr could “steal” enough votes from Biden in battleground States to swing those electoral votes to The Donald camp.
Whatever the outcome, the election in November is very unlikely to resolve any of the conflicts fragmenting States and Americans overall. Indeed, highly likely to make them worse. According to polls, many Americans will be very angry if The Donald gets a detached term, and not quite as many if Uncle Joe gets to stay in the White House.
If, indeed, there is an election in November. Jeffrey Tucker, a staunch Libertarian, stated in a Paradigm interview that he will be “pleasantly surprised” if there is a presidential election in November. He expects an attempt by the current regime to postpone it until January 2025 – “if” conditions improve. The excuse will be, he opines, misinformation and disinformation and Republicans embracing an insurrectionist and therefore planning to overthrow democratic government.
We here at TPOL point out that this election mess points out once again that government has been given so much power, so much control, and so much wealth, that every election is “the most important” in our lifetime (to date) and the stakes are so high that there are no limits to what can be done to prevent someone from gaining or keeping that power.
The solution is simple but very hard: reduce the power of the FedGov to what it was before Honest Abe, if not clear back to the Articles of Confederation. But of course, don’t hold your breath. We aren’t.
In 2016, Jill Stein and the Green Party got just enough votes in Wisconsin, about 1%, to tip that state away from Hillary Clinton toward Donald Trump; (Trump won Wisconsin by just 22,748 votes; Jill Stein got 31,072 votes).
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About TPOL Nathan
Follower of Christ Jesus (a christian), Pahasapan (resident of the Black Hills), Westerner, Lover of Liberty, Free-Market Anarchist, Engineer, Army Officer, Husband, Father, Historian, Writer, Evangelist. Successor to Lady Susan (Mama Liberty) at TPOL.