Kennedy declares independent run

After a five-day delay, Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr. officially declared his independent candidacy for President of the United States.

Kennedy ends the speculation

Kennedy made his announcement in Philadelphia, roughly at noon EDT today.

The Vigilant Fox summarized his motive for an independent run. According to him, the son of an assassinated U.S. Senator and nephew of an assassinated President knew that the Democratic Party’s Superdelegate system would make it impossible for a relative outsider to win the nomination. (Superdelegates are Democratic Party officeholders who are entitled to attend – and vote at – the Democratic National Convention. They are not quite delegates ex officio, but they come close.) The candidate estimated he would have to win 4 out of 5 State primaries. Accordingly, he is making an independent run.

He spoke eloquently of “a rising tide of discontent.” His speech mentions several different kinds of people whom he likely considers wrongfully dispossessed. Some of the dispossessions come at the hands of:

• Hedge fund managers who buy large numbers of single-family residences, thus reducing the housing stock,
• Amazon.com and other “big box” equivalents who undersell small businesses, and
• The current spectacle of near-runaway inflation.

He accused unnamed corporations of “hijacking our government.” These include technical firms, “agribusiness” (like Archer Daniels Midland), drug companies, and the defense industry.

Before he began, a Sioux activist, Lewis GrassRope, gave him a traditional blessing. He also spoke of “Indigenous People’s Day,” not Columbus Day.

Lead-up to the announcement

Kennedy opened the speculation on his making an independent run two weeks ago (Sunday, September 25, 2023). Back then, he spoke of attempts by the Democratic National Committee to shut him out. He did not elaborate.

But three days later he said he would definitely make a “big announcement.” Sources close to him cited the DNC’s “chang[ing of] the rules” to stop his candidacy. Everyone expected him to make it last Wednesday (October 4). He didn’t – but he has made it today.

Robert F. Kennedy is also the only Presidential candidate in recent memory whom the Secret Service has refused to protect. This, despite a definite and incontrovertible attempt on his life at a recent campaign event.

About the image

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr.” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 .