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A Kennedy for president could complicate US electoral calculations

2024-05-19 17:51:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The electoral teams of presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump have few points in common. One of them is the impact that the presidential run of an activist lawyer from a prominent political family will have: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Correspondent of the Voice of America, Steve Herman says that the candidacy of Mr. Kennedy is seen as an issue that can complicate the calculations in the US presidential elections.

Through polls conducted during this election year in the United States, about half of registered voters declare that they would prefer other candidates instead of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump for the November elections.

Enter Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

"Imagine what this country will look like in November if President Trump or President Biden wins -- the division will continue, while the anger, hate speech, chaos and polarization will worsen. The only way to put an end to these phenomena is through my successful candidacy," he says.

Mr. Kennedy, who speaks with a hoarse voice due to an incurable neurological disorder, has not withdrawn from the race despite his loss in the Democratic primary to Mr. Biden.

"Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will not be the next president."

This is the assessment of Georgetown University professor Hans Noel, with which political science researchers agree.

But the issue that worries the electoral teams of Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump is the possibility that Mr. Kennedy will be approved as a third candidate in nearly six states that are expected to be decisive for the election and where a few thousand votes for him could change the result in these states.

"Obviously, these votes would make the difference in the direction the state would take. If it is a relatively large state, where the final result would be close, which we expect to happen, then the outcome of the race could change." , says Hans Noel, of Georgetown University.

"I will be on the ballot in all states. By July, I'll be on every state's ballot."

Candidate Kennedy has another advantage that the third-party candidates running in this year's elections in several states do not have - he is a familiar name to Americans.

He is the son of Bobby Kennedy, one of the leading candidates in the 1968 Democratic Party presidential primary, who was assassinated during the campaign. His uncle is President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in office in 1963.

"The Kennedy family is not at all happy that he is running and have made some efforts to make their position clear," says Hans Noel, of Georgetown University.

One of them was the meeting with Mr. Biden, surrounded by members of the Kennedy family, including Mrs. Kerry Kennedy, the independent candidate's sister.

"We want to make our position very clear that the best way forward for America is to re-elect the Biden-Harris duo to govern for the next four years," she says.

Mr Kennedy's dubious theories about vaccines, the origins of the COVID-19 epidemic and the murders of his father and uncle have attracted some supporters, according to Professor Noel.

"At the moment, Mr. Kennedy is liked more by the Republicans than by the Democrats. But that of course has mostly to do with the fact that he is a Democrat and a former Democrat who criticizes other Democrats. Republicans like this and it piques their interest. But they won't vote for him, instead of Mr. Trump," says Hans Noel, from Georgetown University.

Mr. Kennedy's team refused VOA's request for an interview with the candidate, or any of his associates, on the grounds that "his electoral staff has decided that at this time he will only give interviews to American media that serve an American audience." "/ VOA