34. That may very well become the symbolic magic number in the November presidential election.
In what is shaping up to be a three-person contest between President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the question becomes: Which candidate can garner 34 percent of the popular vote or higher?
While many “experts” still dismiss the possibility of an independent or third-party candidate winning the election, there seems to be a bit more hand-wringing and whistling past the graveyard amongst both Democratic and Republican operatives. Most especially as there is now a possibility that Kennedy may run on the Libertarian Party ticket.
Outlined on this site earlier this week in a piece titled “RFK Jr.’s possible Libertarian bid rankles Democrats,” that possibility is duly noted. As is the growing fear of certain Democratic operatives. And trust me, it is not just Democrats who are viewing that possibility with a great deal of nervousness. It is Republicans as well.
The main reason being — as spelled out in the piece — that by becoming the standard-bearer for the Libertarian Party, Kennedy would be significantly more likely to get on state ballots, including key battleground states.
Democratic strategist Doug Gordon said, “Hijacking the Libertarian Party ballot line won’t change his odds of winning the presidency, which he has no chance at. But it does increase the odds he could play spoiler and hand the keys to the White House back to Trump.”
To paraphrase Hamlet, “Methinks the strategist doth protest too much.”
First, anytime a Democratic strategist or liberal media personality emphatically declares that a certain candidate “has no chance,” I would advise all to go to YouTube and watch the long list of Democratic operatives and liberal pundits “guaranteeing” in 2015 and 2016 that then–New York City businessman Donald Trump has zero chance of getting the Republican nomination and then outright ensuring the nation that he would be embarrassed by Hillary Clinton in the general election.
Those videos should be required viewing for every political science major as well as every political reporter and pundit. It is not about the hate or the contempt in one’s heart for a certain candidate, but rather, what is motivating the voters who increasingly feel abandoned by both political parties.
As a recent real-world example of that — and a possible template for Kennedy — let’s look south toward Argentina, where the populist libertarian Javier Milei was recently elected president.
Said Milei — who campaigned with a symbolic chainsaw to cut down the massive size of the Argentinian government — “Do not be intimidated by the political caste or by parasites who live off the state … If you make money, it’s because you offer a better product at a better price, thereby contributing to general well-being. Do not surrender to the advance of the state. The state is not the solution.”
