Democrats pulling out all the stops against RFK Jr.

Democrats are taking extraordinary measures to prevent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from derailing their efforts to keep the White House in November.

From rallying the Kennedy family around President Biden, to dropping out of opposition polls and holding press conferences about how he helps former President Trump, Democrats watching Kennedy qualify for more state ballots are making every effort to prevent him from hurting Biden in the fall.

“There is no politeness in the second kick of the mule,” said Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist who advised Biden’s presidential campaigns. “In 2016, we saw the impact that third-party candidates had on elections. And we also saw a potential failure of not educating enough [about] what votes for these candidates could mean in the long term for the country.”

“We are now feeling the results of the 2016 elections in 2024,” he added.

Kennedy has made some notable decisions in recent weeks that have caught the attention of Democrats, including choosing a wealthy running mate, Nicole Shanahan, and announcing that he would not run on the Libertarian Party ticket.

Democrats seeking to preserve Biden’s electoral coalition are concerned about his strategy. When Kennedy was strapped for money, they consoled themselves with the fact that he couldn’t go that far, noting how expensive it was to solicit votes in each state. And when he was toying with a libertarian candidacy, they also optimistically hoped he would penetrate Trump’s base rather than Biden’s.

With both challenges now in sight, Democrats are focused on what might come next.

“There will be a clear choice before voters in November and the more they learn about RFK Jr, the more they will recognize that voting for him is voting for Donald Trump,” said Matt Corridoni, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee. who has now dedicated a new department to help stop Kennedy’s run for the White House.

“We will make sure he follows the rules and we will make sure voters are informed about his extreme positions and who is supporting his spoiler candidacy,” Corridoni said.

Kennedy considered running as a Libertarian for much of his candidacy, giving himself the option if things didn’t work out the Independent route. But on Sunday, he definitively rejected the idea, saying it is not part of his calculations and expressing confidence that he will have enough votes for a third-party showing in November.

“We’re not going to have any problems getting to the polls, so we’re not going to run Libertarian,” Kennedy told ABC News this weekend.

A few days later, he qualified for the most important state yet – Michigan – bringing his battleground total to four states, along with New Hampshire, Nevada and North Carolina. His campaign has nine states in total on the ballot.

Democrats began to fight back with force. Biden was seen this week with members of the Kennedy family, who have come together to support the sitting president. While Biden doesn’t criticize Kennedy, he has taken some not-so-subtle steps to show voters that RFK Jr. is an exception among members of his political dynasty.

“His own family supports President Biden today because they know his ideas are dangerous and that he will only help Donald Trump’s re-election,” said Rahna Epting, executive director of MoveOn, which led the anti-Kennedy crusade among progressive Democrats . wing.

As an independent, Kennedy’s supporter base is not clearly defined, but Democrats say he will likely count on Biden voters. That thinking has worried pro-Biden Democrats, who see his mission in this election as preserving democracy from a second Trump presidency. Kennedy’s campaign creates a wrinkle in all of this and has inspired a flood of Democratic resources to focus on ruining his effort to reach the general election.

“We are starting to see the various corners of the Democratic square intersect and come together at a critical time in the campaign season because it is so important for base consolidation to happen,” Seawright said.

“A lot of people would have this notion of sitting in ignorance and shouting about the content,” he said.

Kennedy’s path now depends on a more detailed, state-by-state strategy that voting experts say is difficult but can be accomplished with enough time and money. He effectively took care of the financial issue by choosing a vice president with a recent track record of helping finance his campaign.

The selection of Shanahan, a technology patent attorney and Silicon Valley billionaire, was seen by both Democrats and Kennedy allies as marking a more serious campaign with the potential to last into the fall.

This week, Shanahan poured $2 million into Kennedy’s campaign shortly after introducing her as his running mate, raising Democrats’ suspicions that he hired her in part to help finance what is projected to be a very expensive bid. for access to the polls across the country.

Although he denies taking Shanahan for his money, Kennedy is nonetheless reaping the rewards. His ballot access victory in Michigan kicked off his new goal of ticking off multiple states in quick succession. “We’re going to add probably two to three states a week,” he told ABC News.

The Hill has reached out to the Kennedy campaign for comment.

Shanahan’s amount of money, which is a point of speculation among Democrats, is seen as the most useful contribution to his candidacy. While Democrats complain that an anti-establishment candidate funnels millions to fuel his campaign, Kennedy’s allies see it positively.

“I would say she’s a billionaire,” a source familiar with Kennedy’s operation speculated to The Hill. Shanahan herself has not publicly confirmed her net worth or liquid assets.

Importantly, the money is useful for boosting the tactical issues of the campaign, which differs from the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees by its independent appearance.

“You can hire foot soldiers to collect signatures if necessary,” the Kennedy ally said. “And then you can also hire the most powerful and intelligent political lawyers, with access to the ballot box, to fight all these fights that the two parties are having.”

Democrats are also trying to make the connection between Kennedy and Trump more explicit, hoping to build a narrative around their views, such as skepticism about vaccines and questioning other scientific and medical advances. More recently, his ticket’s stance on women’s rights has been questioned and Democrats have sought to position him more in the Republican camp on issues such as abortion and in vitro fertilization.

“Robert Kennedy Jr. is leading an anti-IVF, anti-vaccine, anti-abortion ticket that has no path to winning 270 electoral votes,” said Epting, whose group builds popular support around these social issues.

Trump, in turn, is playing Kennedy. He has been more complimentary toward the independent, giving him credit for running and rooting for his candidacy. The former president said this week that he “knows him very well” and has previously said that he believes Kennedy will hurt Biden in the upcoming rematch.

Democrats are encouraging each other to unite, arguing that Trump’s political operation is working to empower him.

“We can do more than one thing at once,” Seawright said of the Democratic Party’s strategy. “Frankly, so far we have the resources to be able to do it. We have players on the field who have the ability to do that.”

“At this point in the cycle, that’s true of education,” he said. “Educate the American public not only about what we did, but also about who is fighting it and who will remove it. Educate the public about the threats that exist today and how much deeper and broader these threats can become a reality,” he said. “But also educate about the consequences of having a divided electorate.”

“This cycle does not present a unique opportunity,” Seawright added. “It’s not an either/or.”