Armed with the most storied surname in US politics, Robert F. Kennedy’s wildcard shot for the presidency holds a clear and present danger for Joe Biden’s hopes of a second term in the White House.
The environmental lawyer and conspiracy theorist is boasting double-digit support, and polling suggests that independent candidate “RFK Jr” is hurting the president more than Republican challenger Donald Trump.
Democrats have learned to fear long-shot outsiders after George W. Bush and Donald Trump won tight elections in 2000 and 2016, buoyed by Green Party candidates leeching votes from Al Gore and Hillary Clinton.
“Hyper-polarization is the reason that a third-party candidate with name recognition is such a threat at this time,” said Donald Nieman, a professor and political analyst at New York state’s Binghamton University.
“There are only six or seven truly competitive states, and some of those states will be decided by as few as 10-20,000 votes. So anything that siphons a group of usually reliable voters away could be a deciding factor.”