So, RFK Jr. is hinting at a third party run. And my initial opinion is "good riddance, don't let the door hit you on the way out." I have made my disdain for his candidacy clear, and believe he offers little of value. He's not a real democrat, and I don't mean that in the no true scotsmanny type ways the neolibs push it with claiming bernie aint a real democrat despite agreeing with them in principle 99% of the time (and if anything being more true to the roots of the party than the neolibs). The dude might have the kennedy namesake, but he seems more appealing to trumper types than actual democratic and/or leftie voters. The only lefties I see go for him are the ones who are brainless populists who think being anti elite is more important than policy, and seem to prioritize being "anti war" or "pro environment" without having much of substance to back those positions up.
So yeah, good riddance, please leave the democratic party. You don't really belong here, bye!
Now, to be fair, one aspect in which i sympathize with him is that the democratic party is...anti democratic. They arent holding debates in 2024 despite 2 alternatives to biden with significant numbers of voters (RFK and Williamson). I know it's not common for incumbent parties to hold debates when their guy is running for reelection, but no one really seems to want Biden, to be perfectly honest. He's just kinda there and forced on us.
And I know RFK is...a crank, and williamson has some flaws that sometimes make it hard for the public to take her seriously, but I do believe in the idea of having open primaries where people can just walk in and challenge incumbents. The democratic party tries their darndest to foist their candidates on the public and then tell them they have to accept them or get the republican. It's why i myself voted green in 2016 and 2020.
And for 2024, despite obviously backing biden for the GENERAL election, primary, I'm still pro williamson. I might not be a hardcore supporter of hers as her agenda differs a bit from my more human centered capitalist one, but she is still better than Biden on my priorities. And even if biden winning is inevitable, I do believe in maintaining political pressure from the left so biden keeps doing based things like he's been trying to do.
But yeah. if you're unhappy with biden, is RFK "it"? No. He's not. He's another substanceless populist like trump and seems to appeal to the same kind of voter. The kinds of voters who feel like there's something deeply wrong with politics but lack the knowledge or conviction to know what exactly to so about it so they're just voting on vibes. I'd vote for cornel west in a heartbeat over RFK if I were gonna go third party. And cornel west, despite having a very similar platform to williamson, is a hard sell over biden given the current political environment and where I stand exactly on the issues. I might be willing to make my priorities known in a virtually nonexistent primary, but i do think this is an election where progressives have to play defensively for Biden, and that we're better off waiting until 2028 to actually push for things.
So yeah. I wish RFK the best of luck in his future endeavors, but im kinda happy to see him out of the party.
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