August 28, 2024 10:37 AM UTC

RFK Jr.'s Scampaign To Limp On In Colorado To Own The Libs

• 3 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

As Colorado Newsline’s Sara Wilson reports, even though the floundering presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been suspended and the candidate has endorsed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Kennedy intends to remain on the ballot in states where is presence is not perceived as a spoiler threat to Trump. That includes here in Colorado, where Trump has no realistic shot at winning and, the theory goes, some number of ostensibly liberal voters attracted to RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine message might be persuaded to cast a protest vote:

“We are not withdrawing in Colorado. Mr. Kennedy has encouraged all of his supporters to vote for him in CO!” representatives from Kennedy’s campaign wrote in a Tuesday afternoon email to the secretary of state’s office, as first reported by The Colorado Sun…

Kennedy qualified to appear on Colorado’s ballot as an independent candidate on Aug. 1. Last week, however, he suspended his campaign after saying he did not see a path to victory. He said he would remove his name from about 10 swing states where his candidacy might sway the outcome in Trump’s disfavor.

But that won’t include Colorado, which has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee since 2008.

Nobody is more excited about this development than the two competing chairmen of the Colorado Republican Party:

“I think this is a good tactical decision, as there may be folks who would vote for (Vice President Kamala) Harris who will now pull the lever for RFK. Colorado Republicans remain thrilled that he endorsed our candidate, President Trump,” Eli Bremer, who was selected by members of the Colorado GOP central committee as the party’s new chair over the weekend, wrote in a text.

As Colorado Public Radio reports, OG GOP chairman Dave “Come Back, Brandon” Williams agrees:

Colorado GOP chair Dave Williams, whose own political future is highly contested, approves of Kennedy’s decision to stay on the Colorado ballot.

“RFK Jr. is giving disaffected left-leaning voters who cannot vote for a corrupt politician like Kamala Harris a choice come November,” he wrote in a text to CPR News.

Bold predictions considering that RFK Jr. was pressured out of the race by closet Trump supporters in his campaign who realized Kennedy was pulling support from Trump and not the Democratic candidate, a liability that became untenable after Kamala Harris obliterated Trump’s small lead in polling. RFK Jr.’s support was also already in decline as inquiries into his scandal-plagued and often just plain weird personal life became headline news.

A cynical ploy it may be, but we don’t see RFK Jr. attracting much support from swingable Colorado voters, especially after ending his campaign to endorse Trump. Notwithstanding the aforementioned segment of anti-vaxxer hippies who otherwise consider themselves liberal, Colorado Republicans have done everything they can to turn anti-vaxxer sentiment into a partisan political issue, courting these voters for years before COVID-19 thoroughly politicized vaccination policies. The swing voters who remain may be susceptible to one or more of RFK Jr.’s conspiracy theories, but they’re hardly Trump fans, and they’re smart enough to understand that a vote for a candidate who has already endorsed Trump is equivalent to a vote for Trump.

In the end, there just aren’t that many voters left to fool.