Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced lawyer, technology entrepreneur, and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan to the Kennedy campaign as his running mate on March 26 during an event in Oakland, California.
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Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced lawyer, technology entrepreneur, and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan to the Kennedy campaign as his running mate on March 26 during an event in Oakland, California.
Anadolu (via Getty Images)
One of the most anticipated stories in politics this week was independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s announcement of his running mate. Kennedy introduced Nicole Shanahan as his vice president. Shanahan, 38, is a lawyer and a Silicon Valley high-tech businessman.
Mr. Shanahan's integrity and interest in environmental and health issues made him an engaging debut as a speaker. She expressed her doubts about the overuse of vaccines, a much milder version of President Kennedy's own well-known antipathy toward vaccines. She said her running mate is “the only anti-war candidate today” in the 2024 race.
Other names Kennedy has publicly mentioned as prospects in recent days, such as Aaron Rodgers and Jesse Ventura, may have gained name recognition and maybe even notoriety. But both Mr. Rodgers, a former NFL Most Valuable Player, and Jesse Ventura, a former professional wrestler who served one term as Minnesota's governor, both said they were never formally offered the job. It could be argued that Kennedy mentioned these individuals simply to gain attention on the campaign trail.
The person Kennedy chose to replace him appears to have contributed little to his bid in terms of stature or name recognition. So most of the immediate comments focused on what she could possibly offer: money. Her ex-husband, Sergey Brin, is the co-founder of Google and is estimated to be worth more than $100 billion. The amount of the settlement she received when her couple divorced has not been disclosed, but it is likely that she received a large amount of the settlement.
And since the Supreme Court has treated personal spending for one's candidacy since 1976 as “free speech” that should be protected under the First Amendment, she used that money in Kennedy v. Shanahan will be allowed to spend as much as he wants on his ticket.
Mr. Shanahan was previously in the news for funding Mr. Kennedy's $4 million advertising buyout during this year's Super Bowl broadcast.All presidential candidates need money For the travel, the staff, and most of all the advertising. Mr. Kennedy still needs money to further his voting rights campaign, and so far Mr. Kennedy is only on the ballot in Utah.
Still, until Shanahan can prove himself an asset in other ways, Kennedy will appear to have missed an opportunity to capture the national imagination, or at least a meaningful part of it.
Most independent or third-party presidential candidates will have only a modest, if measurable, impact on the November outcome. But Kennedy, 70, remains the scion of one of America's most famous political families, with a recent Quinnipiac poll polling him as high as 13 percent of the November vote.
That doesn't mean he can win the White House or carry a single state. The last independent or third-party candidate to win the state was racist Alabama Governor George Wallace, who won five states in the Deep South in 1968. Another racist, Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, won four states in 1948.
However, Kennedy's current vote share means he could influence the results of several battleground states and thereby change the Electoral College results. Anyone who remembers the 2000 Florida recount knows that votes cast for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader in that state could have easily swung the state to Democratic candidate Al Gore. you would know.
And beyond that, this is 2024 and there is nothing unusual about this cycle. While the two oldest candidates in presidential history have won the nomination at a historically early stage, more than 60% of all voters say they don't want them as their choice in November. There is. At least in theory, Kennedy should be able to take advantage of these unusual circumstances.
Some might say, then, that President Kennedy's opening remarks called for more effort to improve his chances at one of his running mate choices.
nature of work
All vice presidents serve as second from the top due to the nature of their jobs. Article 2 of the Constitution created this office primarily to ensure a smooth and immediate transition in the event of the president's death and to avoid uncertainty over his successor. . But this job has always been cursed with a kind of ambiguous status. It has been a long-standing ritual in the major political parties for presidential candidates to relinquish their interest in second place.
The ambiguity is likely to be even greater when discussing third-party and independent candidates for vice president. After all, neither an independent nor a third-party candidate has won a presidential seat under the control of two major parties since the 1790s. Although the two political parties have evolved and changed names and geographic locations, the presidency still exists.
Given that track record, third-party or independent management is more of an exploration than a logical proposition. So being running mates kind of doubles down on humility. Such a candidate must always play Sancho Panza to someone else's Don Quixote, riding in the den next to the questing knight.
A few had established themselves, at least before accepting the role of vice presidential candidate. Prominent among them was Admiral James Stockdale, who in 1992 polls showed Perot leading both incumbent President George H.W. Bush and Democratic challenger Bill Clinton. At the time, he was scouted by independent candidate Ross Perot.
Stockdale participated in the Vietnam War as a naval aviator and was captured and held in North Vietnam for many years. Although he had an excellent reputation as a military leader and scholar, he was not a practicing politician or media performer. In the debates against Democratic and Republican vice presidential candidates, Al Gore and Dan Quayle, respectively, Mr. Stockdale's amiable attempts at self-deprecating humor failed. His introductory line, “Who am I? What am I doing here?” came across as a true mess and was widely parodied. It's unfair, but you only get one chance to make a first impression.
Admiral James Stockdale speaks after being introduced as the vice president's chief of staff by Ross Perot (right) in Dallas, October 2, 1992.
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Admiral James Stockdale speaks after being introduced as the vice president's chief of staff by Ross Perot (right) in Dallas, October 2, 1992.
Rick Bowmer/Associated Press
In 1968, Wallace chose as his vice president General Curtis LeMay, a controversial former chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force and the architect of World War II bombing campaigns. In 1948, Mr. Thurmond of South Carolina ran as number two with Mississippi Governor Fielding Wright.
leave one's own trace
At least a handful of independent or third-party vice presidential candidates made their mark after this moment of national exposure. Perhaps the most formidable of them all was Hiram Johnson, the young reformer governor of California who became a political ally of Teddy Roosevelt in 1912.
Roosevelt, who served as president from 1901 to 1908, quickly became dissatisfied with his choice of successor, William Howard Taft. However, when Roosevelt challenged Taft for the next Republican nomination, he fell far short. So the indomitable Roosevelt continued his candidacy as the Progressive Party candidate and nominated Johnson to join the so-called “Moose Ticket.”
Theodore Roosevelt Hiram W. Johnson Progressive Party (Bull Moose) Certificate. Photo, 1912.
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This ticket received 27% of the vote in the four-way contest in the fall, but was only successful in six states. It was enough to split the powerful Republican vote and cede the presidency to Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
And that was one more state than the Populist Populist Party's James B. Weaver won as a third-party challenger to President Benjamin Harrison and former President Grover Cleveland in 1892. Weaver's running mate, James G. Field, was a former Confederate. Officials and Attorney General of Virginia.
Hiram Johnson was reelected governor in 1914 and moved to the Senate two years later as a progressive Republican, where he remained until his death in 1945. He was known as an ally of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and an isolationist who opposed American expansion into the world. War, the League of Nations, and the establishment of the United Nations.
Another progressive hero who had deep doubts about European wars was Robert M. LaFollette Sr., known in his hometown of Wisconsin as “Fighting Bob.” La Follette became the Progressive Party's presidential candidate in 1924 and carried his home state. His nominating convention was canceled without selecting a vice presidential candidate. He then offered the position to Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, but was turned down, but Montana senator Burton K. Wheeler accepted.
