The 2024 Race: Independent Candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Draws More Support from Trump, says Obama Campaign Leader
Positive Trends Indicate Favorable Prospects for President Biden, According to Jim Messina
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The man who led former President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign said early polling of the 2024 race is a good sign for President Biden, with independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. appearing to draw more support from former President Trump than Biden.
Jim Messina, who was interviewed on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday, revealed that despite neck-and-neck polls between Biden and Trump, there are positive trend lines favoring Biden.
“You go to D.C. and think there’s panic in the streets of D.C. because Democrats are like, ‘Oh my god, the polls are terrible.’ No, look at the trend lines. You look at how things are getting better,” said Messina.
Messina emphasized on the importance of understanding third-party candidates, focusing particularly on Kennedy. Recent polls suggest that Kennedy may capture more votes from Trump supporters than Biden supporters.
“You want to see the numbers continue to move, and you want to see who RFK is taking votes from,” highlighted Messina, expressing the significance of this campaign strategy. “Now it looks like he’s taking more votes from Trump, which makes sense.
“It’s unlikely that Democrats are going to want to vote for an anti-choice, anti-vaxxer,” continued Messina. “In the middle of this, it makes sense that there will be more Trump voters that would look at RFK than Biden voters.”
A recent NBC News poll found that Republicans view Kennedy more favorably than Democrats, illustrating that 15 percent of Trump voters would switch their votes to Kennedy, compared to only 7 percent of Biden voters.
Furthermore, Biden would lead Trump by 2 points if they exclusively faced each other, but with the inclusion of third-party candidates, Biden’s lead would extend to 2 points, based on poll results.
The Granitid Analysis: The Biden Campaign’s Estimate and Kennedy’s Potential Impact
The Biden campaign has actively countered Kennedy’s rising popularity with consistent and targeted anti-Kennedy messaging in recent weeks. Advertisements highlighting endorsements from almost the entire Kennedy family have been released by the campaign.
Kennedy, the son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, has not obtained any endorsements from his politically influential family, which Democrats have been emphasizing.
The focus has primarily revolved around Kennedy’s stance on abortion rights, which remains unclear. However, statements from the candidate and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, provide indications of the ticket potentially supporting some restrictions on abortion access.
Addressing concerns regarding his position, Reproductive Freedom for All Freedom Fund, an abortion-rights group, recently launched advertisements in the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin. The ads seek to create doubt regarding Kennedy’s stance on this critical issue.
