They will do anything in order to have Biden win.
In the autumn of 2016, a staff member for Hillary Clinton stationed in the Upper Midwest received a directive from the campaign’s headquarters in Brooklyn: delete a jesting tweet aimed at then-Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
The campaign adhered to a policy of silence regarding third-party contenders, considering them minor disruptions unworthy of direct engagement — even in jest.
However, this year marks a stark departure for Democrats in their approach to independent and third-party candidates. They’ve initiated an overt campaign against figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom they perceive as significant threats to President Joe Biden’s reelection. Multiple new super PACs have emerged with the sole aim of thwarting third-party candidates. Democratic National Committee mobile billboards mock Kennedy at events, while party donors are funding legal actions to prevent his inclusion on the ballot.
The shift in Democratic strategy for 2024 stems in part from the aftermath of that pivotal 2016 incident: Stein’s garnering of enough votes in swing states like Michigan potentially tilted the closely contested election in favor of Donald Trump. Consequently, Clinton became only the second Democrat in less than two decades to lose the presidency following a Green Party nominee’s modest 1% support in crucial states.
“One senior Democrat, speaking on condition of anonymity, remarked, ‘Everyone perceives this election to be hanging by a thread, hence the heightened anxiety,'” explained a source.
Democrats have become increasingly apprehensive about Kennedy’s polling strength, particularly since his selection of Silicon Valley philanthropist Nicole Shanahan as his running mate. Shanahan’s financial capacity to support the financially strapped campaign, coupled with her ideological alignment signaled by her departure from the Democratic Party, suggests Kennedy is positioning himself further left in the 2024 race.
Of particular concern to Democrats is Kennedy’s potential to attract low-propensity voters, including significant segments of young people and young men of color, who have only marginal ties to the Democratic Party.
“Even a marginal defection from Biden’s 2020 coalition could sway a pivotal state against the president in 2024, jeopardizing his narrow path to victory,” warned Pete Kavanaugh, Biden’s former deputy campaign manager in 2020, now leading a new Democratic super PAC, Clear Choice. The PAC, with implicit endorsement from Biden’s leadership, is committed to impeding the traction of third-party candidates through various means, including ballot access accountability. This involves exploiting any errors made by candidates in gathering and submitting petition signatures, potentially preventing their inclusion on the ballot.
