QAnon
I heard a new phrase last night: “Kennedy-Republican”. At first, I thought this was some QAnon inspired reference. The QAnon theory, that John Kennedy Junior didn’t die in a plane crash off of Long Island, and is coming back to lead (along with Donald Trump) an American Revolution, has been around for a while. And while we don’t hear much about QAnon anymore, some of its “mythology” still permeates the far right. So a “Kennedy-Republican”; is that John Junior returning from the grave?
But then I caught on. There is another Kennedy, the same generation as John Jr., who is actually alive and running for President. And he’s running for the Democratic nomination, (as any good Kennedy heir should). Robert Kennedy Jr, Bobby Jr, the sixty-eight year old third child of Senator Robert Kennedy (brother of the President) filed to run in the Democratic Primaries against Joe Biden for the 2024 nomination.
Bobby Jr
Robert Kennedy Jr is a long-time environmentalist. He made a career out of environmental law, and was in the fore-front of New York State controls on pollution. He’s against fossil fuels and nuclear energy, pushing for use of renewable energy sources. He believes that the fossil-fuel industry controls the Environmental Protection Agency. He endorsed Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 run for the Presidency and John Kerry’s 2004 campaign based on their environmental views, and is an advocate of the Green New Deal plan.
But, while Joe Biden hasn’t gone as far as the Green New Deal, he is seen by many environmentalists as progressive on environmental policy. So why would Kennedy take on an incumbent Democratic President of the United States?
Kennedy Tradition
First, there is a Kennedy tradition, established by Robert’s uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. Ted took on Jimmy Carter in 1980, despite Carter being the incumbent President. That divisive Democratic fight was the first step leading to Carter’s defeat by Reagan in the 1980 general election, as the “liberal” wing of the Party felt abandoned by the more moderate Carter/Mondale ticket. (The inevitable “victory” of Ronald Reagan wasn’t at all pre-ordained going into the 1980 campaign. A fractured Democratic Party and the Iranian hostages both led to the resounding Carter defeat).
So Robert Jr. can look to family tradition: a Kennedy running on “principle” against the incumbent.
And he, like his father, is an anti-war Democrat. That includes the current war in Ukraine, which Kennedy characterizes as a US war of aggression using Ukrainian bodies to fulfill American foreign policy goals. He believes Ukraine is just a continuation of the “Neo-Con” wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan; all started, according to him, by Americans for financial gain.
Anti-Vaxxer
But Kennedy’s real strength isn’t in the Democratic Party, it’s in the far-right of the Republican base. Because for the past decade Kennedy made anti-vaccination and anti-big pharma his main banner headline. Kennedy believes that big-pharma and the American wealthy used Covid-19 to their advantage, creating billions of dollars of wealth with what he termed dangerous and useless treatments. Kennedy was against Covid restrictions and firmly against the Covid vaccine.
He wrote a book accusing Anthony Fauci as being a “technocrat” who used both the AIDS epidemic and Covid to make money for the Pharmaceutical industry. Kennedy believes the modern vaccinations cause many of the childhood issues of today, including autism and violent allergies. He is anti-vaxx, anti-mask, and a conspiracy theorist.
In our modern world of disinformation, the “post-fact era” of social media, Robert Kennedy Jr fits right in. He has great appeal in the generation that believes that the “mainstream” media is all “fake-news” and propaganda. The more the mainstream tries to fact-check Kennedy, the more popular has views become. And, of course, despite being denied by the most of his famous family, Robert Kennedy Jr still has the name, the smile, and the legacy to reach a great many people.
Different Myth
Maybe he isn’t really so far from the QAnon myth. Kennedy personifies all of the mystery; he is the “heir”, striking out against the “hidden movers”, that social media thrives on today. He is really just saying aloud what’s already whispered in the darker recesses of our phones and computers: that there is some “dark conspiratorial force” changing the world to their benefit.
Is it QAnon, or Star Wars? Bobby Kennedy Jr might fit the role of the older Luke Skywalker, called back from exile to save the Republic. Like Skywalker, he is scarred by time, his voice damaged by spasmodic dystonia. But he still has the “magic” of his father, the smile, the grace, and those vague memories of another time, when Bobby Kennedy called us to greatness.
Kennedy won’t attract many Democratic votes in the primary. But don’t be surprised if he carries his campaign on into the general election as a third party. After all, if the Democrats strike him down, won’t he come back, “…more powerful than we can possibly imagine?” It’s all about myths and conspiracies, podcasts and old movies.
And Bobby Junior fits right in.
