61 "election interference" lawsuits. 0-61.
You think 61 lawsuits, where the plaintiff largely gets to pick the court, were all rigged, right?
Election 2024
- Thread starter Tecumsehsbones
- Start date
You think 61 lawsuits, where the plaintiff largely gets to pick the court, were all rigged, right?
Dies that include Hillary and the STEAL dossier?
Is that the ones that the judges wouldn't hear the cases, there are a couple gong on right now that the MSM aren't covering, even showed how a machine could be hacked by a pen in Georgia
A paper ballot system like Elections Canada with polling stations of a few hundred is the only way.
Biden and Trump clinch nominations, setting stage for grueling general election rematch
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Peoples
Published Mar 12, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump clinched their parties’ presidential nominations Tuesday with decisive victories in a slate of low-profile primaries, setting up a general election rematch that many voters do not want.
The outcome of contests across Georgia, Mississippi and Washington State was never in doubt. Neither Biden, a Democrat, nor Trump, a Republican, faced major opposition. But the magnitude of their wins gave each man the delegate majority he needed to claim his party’s nomination at the summertime national conventions.
Not even halfway through the presidential primary calendar, Tuesday marked a crystalizing moment for a nation uneasy with its choices in 2024.
There is no longer any doubt that the fall election will feature a rematch between two flawed and unpopular presidents. At 81, Biden is already the oldest president in U.S. history, while the 77-year-old Trump is facing decades in prison as a defendant in four criminal cases. Their rematch — the first featuring two U.S. presidents since 1912 — will almost certainly deepen the nation’s searing political and cultural divides over the eight-month grind that lies ahead.
In a statement, Biden celebrated the nomination while casting Trump as a serious threat to democracy.
Trump, Biden said, “is running a campaign of resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America.”
He continued, “I am honored that the broad coalition of voters representing the rich diversity of the Democratic Party across the country have put their faith in me once again to lead our party _ and our country — in a moment when the threat Trump poses is greater than ever.”
On the eve of Tuesday’s primaries, Trump acknowledged that Biden would be the Democratic nominee, even as seized on the president’s age.
“I assume he’s going to be the candidate,” Trump said of Biden on CNBC. “I’m his only opponent other than life, life itself.”
Both candidates dominated Tuesday’s primaries in swing-state Georgia, deep-red Mississippi and Democratic-leaning Washington. Voting was taking place later in Hawaii’s Republican caucus.
Despite their tough talk, the road ahead will not be easy for either presumptive nominee.
Trump is facing 91 felony counts in four criminal cases involving his handling of classified documents and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, among other alleged crimes. He’s also facing increasingly pointed questions about his policy plans and relationships with some of the world’s most dangerous dictators. Trump met privately on Friday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has rolled back democracy in his country.
Biden, who would be 86 years old at the end of his next term, is working to assure a skeptical electorate that he’s still physically and mentally able to thrive in the world’s most important job. Voters in both parties are unhappy with his handling of immigration and inflation.
And he’s dealing with additional dissension within his party’s progressive base, furious that he hasn’t done more to stop Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Activists and religious leaders in Washington encouraged Democrats to vote “uncommitted” to signal their outrage.
In Seattle, 26-year-old voter Bella Rivera said they hoped their “uncommitted” vote would would serve as a wakeup call for the Democratic party.
“If you really want our votes, if you want to win this election, you’re going to have to show a little bit more either support of Palestinian liberation — that’s something that’s very important to us — and ceasing funds to Israel,” said Rivera, a preschool teacher who uses they/them pronouns.
Almost 3,000 miles away in Georgia, retiree Donna Graham said she would have preferred another Republican nominee over Trump, but she said there’s no way she’d ever vote for Biden in the general election.
“He wasn’t my first choice, but he’s the next best thing,” Graham said of Trump. “It’s sad that it’s the same old matchup as four years ago.”
“He wasn’t my first choice, but he’s the next best thing,” Graham said of Trump. “It’s sad that it’s the same old matchup as four years ago.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Peoples
Published Mar 12, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump clinched their parties’ presidential nominations Tuesday with decisive victories in a slate of low-profile primaries, setting up a general election rematch that many voters do not want.
The outcome of contests across Georgia, Mississippi and Washington State was never in doubt. Neither Biden, a Democrat, nor Trump, a Republican, faced major opposition. But the magnitude of their wins gave each man the delegate majority he needed to claim his party’s nomination at the summertime national conventions.
Not even halfway through the presidential primary calendar, Tuesday marked a crystalizing moment for a nation uneasy with its choices in 2024.
There is no longer any doubt that the fall election will feature a rematch between two flawed and unpopular presidents. At 81, Biden is already the oldest president in U.S. history, while the 77-year-old Trump is facing decades in prison as a defendant in four criminal cases. Their rematch — the first featuring two U.S. presidents since 1912 — will almost certainly deepen the nation’s searing political and cultural divides over the eight-month grind that lies ahead.
In a statement, Biden celebrated the nomination while casting Trump as a serious threat to democracy.
Trump, Biden said, “is running a campaign of resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America.”
He continued, “I am honored that the broad coalition of voters representing the rich diversity of the Democratic Party across the country have put their faith in me once again to lead our party _ and our country — in a moment when the threat Trump poses is greater than ever.”
On the eve of Tuesday’s primaries, Trump acknowledged that Biden would be the Democratic nominee, even as seized on the president’s age.
“I assume he’s going to be the candidate,” Trump said of Biden on CNBC. “I’m his only opponent other than life, life itself.”
Both candidates dominated Tuesday’s primaries in swing-state Georgia, deep-red Mississippi and Democratic-leaning Washington. Voting was taking place later in Hawaii’s Republican caucus.
Despite their tough talk, the road ahead will not be easy for either presumptive nominee.
Trump is facing 91 felony counts in four criminal cases involving his handling of classified documents and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, among other alleged crimes. He’s also facing increasingly pointed questions about his policy plans and relationships with some of the world’s most dangerous dictators. Trump met privately on Friday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has rolled back democracy in his country.
Biden, who would be 86 years old at the end of his next term, is working to assure a skeptical electorate that he’s still physically and mentally able to thrive in the world’s most important job. Voters in both parties are unhappy with his handling of immigration and inflation.
And he’s dealing with additional dissension within his party’s progressive base, furious that he hasn’t done more to stop Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Activists and religious leaders in Washington encouraged Democrats to vote “uncommitted” to signal their outrage.
In Seattle, 26-year-old voter Bella Rivera said they hoped their “uncommitted” vote would would serve as a wakeup call for the Democratic party.
“If you really want our votes, if you want to win this election, you’re going to have to show a little bit more either support of Palestinian liberation — that’s something that’s very important to us — and ceasing funds to Israel,” said Rivera, a preschool teacher who uses they/them pronouns.
Almost 3,000 miles away in Georgia, retiree Donna Graham said she would have preferred another Republican nominee over Trump, but she said there’s no way she’d ever vote for Biden in the general election.
“He wasn’t my first choice, but he’s the next best thing,” Graham said of Trump. “It’s sad that it’s the same old matchup as four years ago.”
“He wasn’t my first choice, but he’s the next best thing,” Graham said of Trump. “It’s sad that it’s the same old matchup as four years ago.”
Biden and Trump clinch nominations, setting stage for grueling general election rematch
President Joe Biden clinched the Democratic presidential nomination with a decisive victory in swing-state Georgia on Tuesday
Here's a roundup of Trump's latest stump-speech lies for y'all to swallow hook, line, and sinker. . .
I'm Tellin' Ya, Charlie, It Hadda Be THIS Big!
I'm Tellin' Ya, Charlie, It Hadda Be THIS Big!
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. eyes Aaron Rodgers, Jesse Ventura as running mate
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Michael Scherer, Meryl Kornfield, The Washington Post
Published Mar 13, 2024 • 3 minute read
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has selected a running mate and plans to announce that person in the next two weeks, according to someone familiar with the process.
Kennedy, the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of a former U.S. attorney general, left the Democratic Party last year in protest of its nominating process and launched a third-party bid. He has cast a broad net since then, speaking with former politicians, a famous athlete, a motivational speaker and several political activists as he seeks to find a partner for the campaign trail.
Like other independent candidates, his timetable has been accelerated by the requirement of 26 states and D.C. for independent presidential candidates petitioning for ballot access to submit the name of a vice president, according to Ballot Access News.
“Part of the anti-democratic strategy of requiring petitions for ballot access – when polling or small donor thresholds would be more accurate and less onerous – is forcing independent candidates to name a VP far earlier than a two-party candidate would need to,” Kennedy campaign manager Amaryllis Fox Kennedy told The Washington Post in a recent statement. She added that the campaign has engaged in a “broad process to find a partner capable of fighting for the true needs of all Americans.”
Kennedy has spoken with NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, former independent Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, former senator Scott Brown (R-Mass.), former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Tony Robbins, the motivational speaker and life coach, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an internal campaign process.
He has also spoken with Tricia Lindsay, a Black civil rights attorney and former teacher in New York, who shares Kennedy’s opposition to vaccine mandates. He has had other conversations with Mike Rowe, the host of the Discovery Channel show “Dirty Jobs,” who has started a foundation that encourages people into vocational trades.
Most of the conversations have not resulted in a formal offer of a job, the person said, though some became more advanced than others. The New York Times reported some of these names earlier Tuesday. Kennedy, in an interview with the Times, confirmed that Rodgers and Ventura were at the top of his list.
Rodgers, who sat out nearly all of the 2023 season at the New York Jets with an injured Achilles’ tendon, is also an outspoken critic of vaccine mandates. Ventura, who was governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, recently had a brief career as a host on RT America, a cable network whose parent company is funded by the Russian government. He now publishes a Substack newsletter and podcast with his son called “Jesse Ventura’s Die First Then Quit.”
A Fox News poll last week found Kennedy polling at 13 percent nationally, well ahead of other third-party contenders. Former president Donald Trump polled at 41 percent in the same poll, while President Biden drew 38 percent of voters. Those numbers have alarmed some Democrats who see Kennedy’s appeal, especially among core groups of Democrats such as Black voters, as a threat to Biden’s reelection.
Kennedy has been focused on gaining ballot access as an independent, a laborious process in all 50 states. He has announced that he has submitted enough signatures to qualify in Utah, Hawaii and New Hampshire. Kennedy has also created his own party, We the People, in some states to ease his path to getting on the ballot. The super PAC supporting him, American Values 2024, has promised to spend $15 million to help gather signatures in some states for ballot access.
Kennedy also has met with leaders of the Libertarian Party. He would have an easier path to secure ballot access if he became the party’s nominee, although many in the party have cited concerns of ideological differences.
Scholar and activist Cornel West, who is similarly seeking ballot access as an independent candidate, has also said he has been having conversations in an effort to announce a running mate soon to help him qualify for ballots. West’s co-campaign manager Edwin DeJesus said that the candidate hopes to announce a running mate by the end of March.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Michael Scherer, Meryl Kornfield, The Washington Post
Published Mar 13, 2024 • 3 minute read
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has selected a running mate and plans to announce that person in the next two weeks, according to someone familiar with the process.
Kennedy, the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of a former U.S. attorney general, left the Democratic Party last year in protest of its nominating process and launched a third-party bid. He has cast a broad net since then, speaking with former politicians, a famous athlete, a motivational speaker and several political activists as he seeks to find a partner for the campaign trail.
Like other independent candidates, his timetable has been accelerated by the requirement of 26 states and D.C. for independent presidential candidates petitioning for ballot access to submit the name of a vice president, according to Ballot Access News.
“Part of the anti-democratic strategy of requiring petitions for ballot access – when polling or small donor thresholds would be more accurate and less onerous – is forcing independent candidates to name a VP far earlier than a two-party candidate would need to,” Kennedy campaign manager Amaryllis Fox Kennedy told The Washington Post in a recent statement. She added that the campaign has engaged in a “broad process to find a partner capable of fighting for the true needs of all Americans.”
Kennedy has spoken with NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, former independent Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, former senator Scott Brown (R-Mass.), former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Tony Robbins, the motivational speaker and life coach, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an internal campaign process.
He has also spoken with Tricia Lindsay, a Black civil rights attorney and former teacher in New York, who shares Kennedy’s opposition to vaccine mandates. He has had other conversations with Mike Rowe, the host of the Discovery Channel show “Dirty Jobs,” who has started a foundation that encourages people into vocational trades.
Most of the conversations have not resulted in a formal offer of a job, the person said, though some became more advanced than others. The New York Times reported some of these names earlier Tuesday. Kennedy, in an interview with the Times, confirmed that Rodgers and Ventura were at the top of his list.
Rodgers, who sat out nearly all of the 2023 season at the New York Jets with an injured Achilles’ tendon, is also an outspoken critic of vaccine mandates. Ventura, who was governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, recently had a brief career as a host on RT America, a cable network whose parent company is funded by the Russian government. He now publishes a Substack newsletter and podcast with his son called “Jesse Ventura’s Die First Then Quit.”
A Fox News poll last week found Kennedy polling at 13 percent nationally, well ahead of other third-party contenders. Former president Donald Trump polled at 41 percent in the same poll, while President Biden drew 38 percent of voters. Those numbers have alarmed some Democrats who see Kennedy’s appeal, especially among core groups of Democrats such as Black voters, as a threat to Biden’s reelection.
Kennedy has been focused on gaining ballot access as an independent, a laborious process in all 50 states. He has announced that he has submitted enough signatures to qualify in Utah, Hawaii and New Hampshire. Kennedy has also created his own party, We the People, in some states to ease his path to getting on the ballot. The super PAC supporting him, American Values 2024, has promised to spend $15 million to help gather signatures in some states for ballot access.
Kennedy also has met with leaders of the Libertarian Party. He would have an easier path to secure ballot access if he became the party’s nominee, although many in the party have cited concerns of ideological differences.
Scholar and activist Cornel West, who is similarly seeking ballot access as an independent candidate, has also said he has been having conversations in an effort to announce a running mate soon to help him qualify for ballots. West’s co-campaign manager Edwin DeJesus said that the candidate hopes to announce a running mate by the end of March.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. eyes Aaron Rodgers, Jesse Ventura as running mate
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has selected a running mate and plans to announce that person in the next two weeks.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. picks Nicole Shanahan as running mate for White House bid
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Jonathan J. Cooper And Meg Kinnard
Published Mar 26, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
OAKLAND, Calif. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. chose Nicole Shanahan on Tuesday to be his vice presidential pick as he mounts an independent White House bid that has spooked national Democrats.
Shanahan, 38, is a California lawyer and philanthropist who’s never held elected office. Shanahan leads Bia-Echo Foundation, an organization she founded to direct money toward issues including women’s reproductive science, criminal justice reform and environmental causes.
Kennedy, a former Democrat, made the announcement in Oakland, California.
“Nicole and I both left the Democratic Party,” he said. “Our values didn’t change. The Democratic Party did.”
Without the backing of a party, Kennedy faces an arduous task to get on the ballot, with varying rules across the 50 states. He’s picking a running mate now because about half of the states require him to designate one before he can apply for ballot access.
In advance of an event Tuesday in Oakland, Kennedy and his aides circulated the names of several contenders, including celebrities with no experience in politics.
Two hours before Kennedy’s rally was scheduled to begin at a performing arts venue, a handful of supporters were lined up outside. Broken-down cars, discarded bicycles, tents and all manner of household goods took up the sidewalk and a park directly outside, a visual reminder of the housing crisis that has plagued California.
Dozens of men in black suits made up a heavy security presence for a candidate who has loudly complained that he has not been granted protection from the U.S. Secret Service. Kennedy’s campaign has spent millions of dollars with the security company owned by Gavin de Becker, who has been a major donor to his campaign and associated super PAC.
Sarah Morris, a Kennedy supporter from Olympia, Washington, who flew to Oakland for the rally, said Kennedy should pick somebody who would “complement him well and balance him out.”
“It would be nice to see a VP who leans a little more right than he does,” said the 47-year-old real estate agent. “I just hope he picks a good partner. I hope he doesn’t pick somebody that’s polarizing.”
A list of speakers includes Angela Stanton-King, a woman pardoned by then-President Donald Trump for her role in a car theft ring that led to a 2004 federal conspiracy conviction and two years in prison; Metta World Peace, the NBA all-star player formerly known as Ron Artest; and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford Medical School professor who questioned the efficacy of lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic and was part of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential launch event last year.
Kennedy’s campaign has spooked Democrats, who are fighting third-party options that could draw support from President Joe Biden and help Trump. As they head into a 2020 rematch, Biden and Trump are broadly unpopular with the U.S. public and will compete for the votes of people who aren’t enthusiastic about either of them.
Without the backing of a party, Kennedy faces an arduous task to get on the ballot, with varying rules across the 50 states. He’s picking a running mate now because about half of the states require him to designate one before he can apply for ballot access.
The requirement is already bedeviling Kennedy’s ballot access effort in Nevada, where Democratic Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar said in a March 7 letter to independent candidates that they must nominate a vice presidential candidate before collecting signatures. The letter came days after Kennedy’s campaign announced he’d collected enough signatures in the state. If Aguilar’s opinion survives a likely legal challenge, Kennedy will have to start again in collecting just over 10,000 signatures in the state.
“This is the epitome of corruption,” said Paul Rossi, a Kennedy campaign lawyer, in a statement Monday, accusing Aguilar of doing the bidding of the Democratic National Committee.
Kennedy has secured access to the ballot in Utah. He and an allied super PAC, American Values 2024, say they’ve collected enough signatures to qualify in several other states, including swing states Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, but election officials there have not yet signed off.
Kennedy is a descendant of a storied Democratic family that includes his father, Robert F. Kennedy, who was a U.S. senator, attorney general and presidential candidate, and his uncle former President John F. Kennedy.
He began his campaign as a primary challenge to Biden but last fall said he’d run as an independent instead.
Kennedy was a teenager when his father, known as RFK, was assassinated during his own presidential campaign in 1968. RFK Jr. built a reputation of his own as an activist, author and lawyer who fought for environmental causes such as clean water.
Along the way, his activism has veered into conspiracies and contradicted scientific consensus, most infamously on vaccines. Some members of his family have publicly criticized his views. Dozens of Kennedy family members sent a message when they posed with Biden at a St. Patrick’s Day reception at the White House in a photo his sister Kerry Kennedy posted to social media.
RFK Jr. is leveraging a network of loyal supporters he’s built over years, many of them drawn to his anti-vaccine activism and his message that the U.S. government is beholden to corporations.
The Democratic National Committee, meanwhile, is gearing up to take on Kennedy and other third-party options, including No Labels, a well-funded group working to recruit a centrist ticket. The effort is overseen by veteran strategist Mary Beth Cahill, whose resume includes chief of staff to the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, another of RFK Jr.’s uncles.
Many Democrats blame Green Party candidates for Al Gore’s loss to George W. Bush in 2000 and Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump in 2016.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Jonathan J. Cooper And Meg Kinnard
Published Mar 26, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
OAKLAND, Calif. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. chose Nicole Shanahan on Tuesday to be his vice presidential pick as he mounts an independent White House bid that has spooked national Democrats.
Shanahan, 38, is a California lawyer and philanthropist who’s never held elected office. Shanahan leads Bia-Echo Foundation, an organization she founded to direct money toward issues including women’s reproductive science, criminal justice reform and environmental causes.
Kennedy, a former Democrat, made the announcement in Oakland, California.
“Nicole and I both left the Democratic Party,” he said. “Our values didn’t change. The Democratic Party did.”
Without the backing of a party, Kennedy faces an arduous task to get on the ballot, with varying rules across the 50 states. He’s picking a running mate now because about half of the states require him to designate one before he can apply for ballot access.
In advance of an event Tuesday in Oakland, Kennedy and his aides circulated the names of several contenders, including celebrities with no experience in politics.
Two hours before Kennedy’s rally was scheduled to begin at a performing arts venue, a handful of supporters were lined up outside. Broken-down cars, discarded bicycles, tents and all manner of household goods took up the sidewalk and a park directly outside, a visual reminder of the housing crisis that has plagued California.
Dozens of men in black suits made up a heavy security presence for a candidate who has loudly complained that he has not been granted protection from the U.S. Secret Service. Kennedy’s campaign has spent millions of dollars with the security company owned by Gavin de Becker, who has been a major donor to his campaign and associated super PAC.
Sarah Morris, a Kennedy supporter from Olympia, Washington, who flew to Oakland for the rally, said Kennedy should pick somebody who would “complement him well and balance him out.”
“It would be nice to see a VP who leans a little more right than he does,” said the 47-year-old real estate agent. “I just hope he picks a good partner. I hope he doesn’t pick somebody that’s polarizing.”
A list of speakers includes Angela Stanton-King, a woman pardoned by then-President Donald Trump for her role in a car theft ring that led to a 2004 federal conspiracy conviction and two years in prison; Metta World Peace, the NBA all-star player formerly known as Ron Artest; and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford Medical School professor who questioned the efficacy of lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic and was part of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential launch event last year.
Kennedy’s campaign has spooked Democrats, who are fighting third-party options that could draw support from President Joe Biden and help Trump. As they head into a 2020 rematch, Biden and Trump are broadly unpopular with the U.S. public and will compete for the votes of people who aren’t enthusiastic about either of them.
Without the backing of a party, Kennedy faces an arduous task to get on the ballot, with varying rules across the 50 states. He’s picking a running mate now because about half of the states require him to designate one before he can apply for ballot access.
The requirement is already bedeviling Kennedy’s ballot access effort in Nevada, where Democratic Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar said in a March 7 letter to independent candidates that they must nominate a vice presidential candidate before collecting signatures. The letter came days after Kennedy’s campaign announced he’d collected enough signatures in the state. If Aguilar’s opinion survives a likely legal challenge, Kennedy will have to start again in collecting just over 10,000 signatures in the state.
“This is the epitome of corruption,” said Paul Rossi, a Kennedy campaign lawyer, in a statement Monday, accusing Aguilar of doing the bidding of the Democratic National Committee.
Kennedy has secured access to the ballot in Utah. He and an allied super PAC, American Values 2024, say they’ve collected enough signatures to qualify in several other states, including swing states Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, but election officials there have not yet signed off.
Kennedy is a descendant of a storied Democratic family that includes his father, Robert F. Kennedy, who was a U.S. senator, attorney general and presidential candidate, and his uncle former President John F. Kennedy.
He began his campaign as a primary challenge to Biden but last fall said he’d run as an independent instead.
Kennedy was a teenager when his father, known as RFK, was assassinated during his own presidential campaign in 1968. RFK Jr. built a reputation of his own as an activist, author and lawyer who fought for environmental causes such as clean water.
Along the way, his activism has veered into conspiracies and contradicted scientific consensus, most infamously on vaccines. Some members of his family have publicly criticized his views. Dozens of Kennedy family members sent a message when they posed with Biden at a St. Patrick’s Day reception at the White House in a photo his sister Kerry Kennedy posted to social media.
RFK Jr. is leveraging a network of loyal supporters he’s built over years, many of them drawn to his anti-vaccine activism and his message that the U.S. government is beholden to corporations.
The Democratic National Committee, meanwhile, is gearing up to take on Kennedy and other third-party options, including No Labels, a well-funded group working to recruit a centrist ticket. The effort is overseen by veteran strategist Mary Beth Cahill, whose resume includes chief of staff to the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, another of RFK Jr.’s uncles.
Many Democrats blame Green Party candidates for Al Gore’s loss to George W. Bush in 2000 and Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump in 2016.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. picks Nicole Shanahan as running mate for White House bid
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. chose Nicole Shanahan on Tuesday to be his vice presidential pick as he mounts an independent White House bid.
Who is Nicole Shanahan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s pick as U.S. running mate?
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Meg Kinnard
Published Mar 26, 2024 • 3 minute read
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has chosen Shanahan as his running mate for his independent U.S. presidential bid.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has chosen Shanahan as his running mate for his independent U.S. presidential bid.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has picked Nicole Shanahan, a California lawyer and philanthropist who’s never held elected office, to be his running mate in his independent bid for president, he announced on Tuesday.
An unconventional choice, Shanahan, who is 38, brings youth and considerable wealth to Kennedy’s long-shot campaign but is little known outside Silicon Valley.
Shanahan leads the Bia-Echo Foundation, an organization she founded to direct money toward issues including women’s reproductive science, criminal justice reform and environmental causes. She also is a Stanford University fellow and was the founder and chief executive of ClearAccessIP, a patent management firm that was sold in 2020.
Shanahan was married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin from 2018 to 2023, and they have a young daughter. She was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Kennedy made his announcement.
On Tuesday, Shanahan talked about her hardscrabble upbringing in Oakland, the daughter of a mother who immigrated from China and an Irish and German-American father “plagued by substance abuse” who “struggled to keep a job.” Touching on her family’s reliance on government assistance, Shanahan said that, although she had become “very wealthy later on in life,” she felt she could relate to Americans being “just one misfortune away from disaster.”
“The purpose of wealth is to help those in need. That’s what it’s for,” Shanahan said. “And I want to bring that back to politics, too. That is the purpose of privilege.”
Before the announcement, Kennedy’s campaign manager and daughter-in-law, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, praised Shanahan’s work on behalf of “honest governance, racial equity, regenerative agriculture and children’s and maternal health.” She said the work “reflects many of our country’s most urgent needs.”
Kennedy, who said in an interview Monday with “The State of California” on KCBS radio that his VP search placed a priority on “somebody who could represent young people,” said Tuesday that Shanahan — who he said, like him, has “left the Democratic Party” _ also shares his concerns about government overreach and his distrust in major political parties’ abilities to make lasting change.
“She’ll tell you that she now understands at the defense agencies work for the military industrial complex, that health agencies work for big pharma and the USDA works for big ag and the processed food cartels,” Kennedy said at his Oakland rally. “The EPA is in cahoots with the polluters, that the scientists can be mercenaries, that government officials sometimes act as sensors, and that the Fed works for Wall Street and allows millionaire bankers to prey upon on Main Street and the American worker.”
Kennedy also said that, in part, Shanahan’s heritage played at least some role in his selection of her.
“I wanted someone who would honor the traditions our nation, as a nation of immigrants, but who also understands that to be a nation, we need to secure borders,” he said.
Kennedy had previously signaled interest in picking a celebrity or a household name such as NFL quarterback Aaron Rogers, “Dirty Jobs” star Mike Rowe or former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, who was a wrestler and actor.
According to campaign finance records, Shanahan has long donated to Democratic candidates, including giving the maximum amount allowed to Kennedy when he was still pursuing that party’s nomination before switching to an independent bid in October.
It was unclear if Shanahan would use her own money on the campaign, but she has already opened her wallet to back Kennedy.
She was a driving force and the primary donor behind a Super Bowl ad produced by a pro-Kennedy super PAC, American Values 2024, for which she contributed $4 million. In response to criticism following the ad’s release, the super PAC said its “idea, funding, and execution came primarily” from Shanahan.
The super PAC can accept unlimited funds but is legally barred from coordinating with Kennedy’s team.
But as a candidate for vice president, Shanahan can give unlimited sums to the campaign directly. That’s potentially a huge boost for Kennedy’s expensive push to get on the ballot in all 50 states, an endeavor he has said will cost $15 million and require collecting more than 1 million signatures.
— Jonathan J. Cooper contributed from Oakland.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Meg Kinnard
Published Mar 26, 2024 • 3 minute read
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has chosen Shanahan as his running mate for his independent U.S. presidential bid.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has chosen Shanahan as his running mate for his independent U.S. presidential bid.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has picked Nicole Shanahan, a California lawyer and philanthropist who’s never held elected office, to be his running mate in his independent bid for president, he announced on Tuesday.
An unconventional choice, Shanahan, who is 38, brings youth and considerable wealth to Kennedy’s long-shot campaign but is little known outside Silicon Valley.
Shanahan leads the Bia-Echo Foundation, an organization she founded to direct money toward issues including women’s reproductive science, criminal justice reform and environmental causes. She also is a Stanford University fellow and was the founder and chief executive of ClearAccessIP, a patent management firm that was sold in 2020.
Shanahan was married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin from 2018 to 2023, and they have a young daughter. She was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Kennedy made his announcement.
On Tuesday, Shanahan talked about her hardscrabble upbringing in Oakland, the daughter of a mother who immigrated from China and an Irish and German-American father “plagued by substance abuse” who “struggled to keep a job.” Touching on her family’s reliance on government assistance, Shanahan said that, although she had become “very wealthy later on in life,” she felt she could relate to Americans being “just one misfortune away from disaster.”
“The purpose of wealth is to help those in need. That’s what it’s for,” Shanahan said. “And I want to bring that back to politics, too. That is the purpose of privilege.”
Before the announcement, Kennedy’s campaign manager and daughter-in-law, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, praised Shanahan’s work on behalf of “honest governance, racial equity, regenerative agriculture and children’s and maternal health.” She said the work “reflects many of our country’s most urgent needs.”
Kennedy, who said in an interview Monday with “The State of California” on KCBS radio that his VP search placed a priority on “somebody who could represent young people,” said Tuesday that Shanahan — who he said, like him, has “left the Democratic Party” _ also shares his concerns about government overreach and his distrust in major political parties’ abilities to make lasting change.
“She’ll tell you that she now understands at the defense agencies work for the military industrial complex, that health agencies work for big pharma and the USDA works for big ag and the processed food cartels,” Kennedy said at his Oakland rally. “The EPA is in cahoots with the polluters, that the scientists can be mercenaries, that government officials sometimes act as sensors, and that the Fed works for Wall Street and allows millionaire bankers to prey upon on Main Street and the American worker.”
Kennedy also said that, in part, Shanahan’s heritage played at least some role in his selection of her.
“I wanted someone who would honor the traditions our nation, as a nation of immigrants, but who also understands that to be a nation, we need to secure borders,” he said.
Kennedy had previously signaled interest in picking a celebrity or a household name such as NFL quarterback Aaron Rogers, “Dirty Jobs” star Mike Rowe or former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, who was a wrestler and actor.
According to campaign finance records, Shanahan has long donated to Democratic candidates, including giving the maximum amount allowed to Kennedy when he was still pursuing that party’s nomination before switching to an independent bid in October.
It was unclear if Shanahan would use her own money on the campaign, but she has already opened her wallet to back Kennedy.
She was a driving force and the primary donor behind a Super Bowl ad produced by a pro-Kennedy super PAC, American Values 2024, for which she contributed $4 million. In response to criticism following the ad’s release, the super PAC said its “idea, funding, and execution came primarily” from Shanahan.
The super PAC can accept unlimited funds but is legally barred from coordinating with Kennedy’s team.
But as a candidate for vice president, Shanahan can give unlimited sums to the campaign directly. That’s potentially a huge boost for Kennedy’s expensive push to get on the ballot in all 50 states, an endeavor he has said will cost $15 million and require collecting more than 1 million signatures.
— Jonathan J. Cooper contributed from Oakland.
Who is Nicole Shanahan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s pick as U.S. running mate?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has picked Nicole Shanahan to be his running mate in his independent bid for U.S. president.
And it's spiking in an election year imagine that, 2 birds 1 stone for human health and climate change
No Labels won't run third-party candidate for U.S. presidential election
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Peoples And Jonathan J. Cooper
Published Apr 04, 2024 • 3 minute read
NEW YORK — The No Labels group said Thursday it will not field a presidential candidate in November after strategists for the bipartisan organization failed to attract a high-profile centrist willing to seize on the widespread dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
“No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House,” Nancy Jacobson, the group’s CEO, said in a statement sent out to allies. “No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.”
The unexpected announcement further cements the general election matchup between the two unpopular major party candidates, Biden and Trump, leaving anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the only prominent outsider still seeking the presidency. Kennedy said this week that he had collected enough signatures to qualify for the fall ballot in in five states.
No Labels’ decision, which comes just days after the death of founding chairman Joe Lieberman, caps months of discussions during which the group raised tens of millions of dollars from a donor list it has kept secret. It was cheered by relieved Democrats who have long feared that a No Labels’ ticket would fracture Biden’s coalition and help Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.
The Wall Street Journal first reported No Labels’ decision.
“Millions of Americans are relieved that No Labels finally decided to do the right thing to keep Donald Trump out of the White House,” said MoveOn executive director Rahna Epting, a No Labels’ critic. “Now, it’s time for Robert Kennedy Jr. to see the writing on the wall that no third party has a path forward to winning the presidency. We must come together to defeat the biggest threat to our democracy and country: Donald Trump.”
Kennedy’s campaign had no immediate response, although he announced earlier in the week that he had qualified for the general election in five states, including swing states Nevada and North Carolina.
No Labels said it had qualified for the ballot in 21 states, but ultimately, the centrist group could not persuade a top-tier moderate from either party to embrace its movement.
No Labels delegates voted overwhelmingly in March to launch the process of creating a bipartisan presidential and vice presidential ticket. But by then, No Labels had been rejected, publicly and privately, by many Democratic or Republican candidates.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who suspended her campaign for the GOP presidential nomination last month, had said she would not consider running on the No Labels ticket. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., ruled out running and former Gov. Larry Hogan, R-Md., decided to run for U.S. Senate.
Last month, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican candidate for president in 2024, said he wouldn’t run under the No Label banner, either.
The group had been weighing the nomination of a “unity ticket,” with a presidential candidate from one major party and a vice presidential candidate from the other, to appeal to voters unhappy with Biden and Trump.
“We are deeply relieved that everyone rejected their offer, forcing them to stand down,” said Matt Bennett of the centrist group Third Way, which had been fighting No Labels’ 2024 ambitions. “While the threat of third-party spoilers remains, this uniquely damaging attack on President Biden and Democrats from the center has at last ended.”
Biden supporters had worried No Labels would pull votes away from the president in battleground states and had been critical of how the group would not disclose its donors or much about its decision-making. No Labels never named all of its delegates and most of its deliberations took place in secret.
Dan DuPraw, a 33-year-old sales worker in Philadelphia who would have been a delegate to a No Labels convention, said the decision was disappointing but prudent. He trusts the No Labels leadership to make the right call.
“I understand why they made the decision, and I think it’s the right thing to do in this moment,” DuPraw said. “But I’m so disappointed that we get Trump and Biden again. I think it’s such a horrible thing for our country.”
DuPraw said he will now decide between Biden and Kennedy.
“I’m excited that there are other options than the two main parties,” he said.
— Cooper reported from Phoenix.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Peoples And Jonathan J. Cooper
Published Apr 04, 2024 • 3 minute read
NEW YORK — The No Labels group said Thursday it will not field a presidential candidate in November after strategists for the bipartisan organization failed to attract a high-profile centrist willing to seize on the widespread dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
“No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House,” Nancy Jacobson, the group’s CEO, said in a statement sent out to allies. “No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.”
The unexpected announcement further cements the general election matchup between the two unpopular major party candidates, Biden and Trump, leaving anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the only prominent outsider still seeking the presidency. Kennedy said this week that he had collected enough signatures to qualify for the fall ballot in in five states.
No Labels’ decision, which comes just days after the death of founding chairman Joe Lieberman, caps months of discussions during which the group raised tens of millions of dollars from a donor list it has kept secret. It was cheered by relieved Democrats who have long feared that a No Labels’ ticket would fracture Biden’s coalition and help Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.
The Wall Street Journal first reported No Labels’ decision.
“Millions of Americans are relieved that No Labels finally decided to do the right thing to keep Donald Trump out of the White House,” said MoveOn executive director Rahna Epting, a No Labels’ critic. “Now, it’s time for Robert Kennedy Jr. to see the writing on the wall that no third party has a path forward to winning the presidency. We must come together to defeat the biggest threat to our democracy and country: Donald Trump.”
Kennedy’s campaign had no immediate response, although he announced earlier in the week that he had qualified for the general election in five states, including swing states Nevada and North Carolina.
No Labels said it had qualified for the ballot in 21 states, but ultimately, the centrist group could not persuade a top-tier moderate from either party to embrace its movement.
No Labels delegates voted overwhelmingly in March to launch the process of creating a bipartisan presidential and vice presidential ticket. But by then, No Labels had been rejected, publicly and privately, by many Democratic or Republican candidates.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who suspended her campaign for the GOP presidential nomination last month, had said she would not consider running on the No Labels ticket. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., ruled out running and former Gov. Larry Hogan, R-Md., decided to run for U.S. Senate.
Last month, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican candidate for president in 2024, said he wouldn’t run under the No Label banner, either.
The group had been weighing the nomination of a “unity ticket,” with a presidential candidate from one major party and a vice presidential candidate from the other, to appeal to voters unhappy with Biden and Trump.
“We are deeply relieved that everyone rejected their offer, forcing them to stand down,” said Matt Bennett of the centrist group Third Way, which had been fighting No Labels’ 2024 ambitions. “While the threat of third-party spoilers remains, this uniquely damaging attack on President Biden and Democrats from the center has at last ended.”
Biden supporters had worried No Labels would pull votes away from the president in battleground states and had been critical of how the group would not disclose its donors or much about its decision-making. No Labels never named all of its delegates and most of its deliberations took place in secret.
Dan DuPraw, a 33-year-old sales worker in Philadelphia who would have been a delegate to a No Labels convention, said the decision was disappointing but prudent. He trusts the No Labels leadership to make the right call.
“I understand why they made the decision, and I think it’s the right thing to do in this moment,” DuPraw said. “But I’m so disappointed that we get Trump and Biden again. I think it’s such a horrible thing for our country.”
DuPraw said he will now decide between Biden and Kennedy.
“I’m excited that there are other options than the two main parties,” he said.
— Cooper reported from Phoenix.
No Labels won't run third-party candidate for U.S. presidential election
The No Labels group said Thursday it will not field a presidential candidate in November.