Is There a Third Path to the White House? - “The Sunday Political Brunch” February 4, 2024
Mark Curtis, MINDSETTER™
Is There a Third Path to the White House? - “The Sunday Political Brunch” February 4, 2024
“RFK Jr.” – I had the opportunity to interview Robert F. Kennedy Jr., last Saturday as he was making a campaign stop in West Virginia. At 70, he seems as vigorous and energetic as anyone in the famed Kennedy political clan, which I have covered for decades. Like his famous dad, who served as Attorney General, U.S. Senator, and also ran for president, he simply says, “Call me Bobby!” As far as I can tell, he’s in with both feet. Kennedy said, “And you know I think Americans don’t want to have a choice again, between the less of two evils. People want a candidate that inspires them.” Kennedy added, “You know I left the Democratic Party because it was no longer on the side of working people and the middle class.”
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“Spoiler Factor?” – There are many Democrats around the nation who worry that having an independent such as Manchin or Kennedy in the race, or both of them, simply punts the White House back to Trump. Kennedy doesn’t view himself as a potential spoiler saying, “I don’t think President Biden at this point, needs help losing to Donald Trump. He’s trailing in the polls, in the national polls, by 8 to 10 points.” Kennedy first announced he would challenge Biden in the Democratic primaries, only to announce he’d run as an independent weeks later explaining, “It’s not the Kennedy Democratic Party that I was raised in.” Kennedy has polled as high as 24 percent.
“Kennedy on the Border” – The harshest criticism Kennedy waged on Biden was over the border crisis. “You know I’ve been very strong on the border. I was one of the first people to go down to the border. I spent about three days there, talking with the border patrol and talking with local law enforcement,” Kennedy said. “And what’s happening there is literally insane. I watched in a two-hour period between 2 and 4 o’clock in the morning, in Yuma, I watched 300 people just walk across the border. The border patrol is utterly demoralized.” Kennedy says the immigrant crush is putting a strain on government services in the U.S. such as schools and hospitals. “It’s criminal right now, what’s happening at the border,” he added. “We should not be having illegal immigration coming across the border. We can stop it. And I will as President.”
“Kennedy Praises Trump” -- Presidential candidate Kennedy said candidly, “I’m a lifelong Democrat, not a friend of President Trump’s. I’m running against him. But you know, the Trump policies were much better in controlling the border.” Kennedy says we don’t need a wall from San Diego, CA to Brownsville, TX, “But in the urban areas you do need that physical barrier,” he added. “It’s an invasion of our country,” said Kennedy, and it needs to be treated as such.”
“Border Deal” -- As the week ended came a deal that ties additional U.S. aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, to additional monies to tighten the Southern Border. Congress still needs to vote on final approval, but some were optimistic they finally tied border security to President Biden’s international agenda. “The president could do something today, to improve this. We want to force him to do something,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R) West Virginia. "They're (migrants) also bringing drugs (fentanyl) that are killing West Virginians, because the border patrol is so overwhelmed,” Capito added.
“Impeachment Stampede” - Weeks ago, I wrote in this column that I thought we were really getting out of hand as a nation with the weaponization of impeachments on both sides of the aisle. In modern times, President Richard Nixon was under an impeachment inquiry when he resigned from office in 1974. Many Republicans promised to get even, and we saw President Bill Clinton impeached in 1998. Then President Trump was impeached twice in his terms, including just days before he left office after losing the 2020 election. Now President Biden is under an impeachment inquiry, too. When does this end? It doesn’t.
"Impeachment Train, Full Speed Ahead” – If you’re old enough to remember, there was that old 1960s game show, “Queen for a Day!” Fast forward to 2024, and now we could call it, “Impeachment of the Day!” This past week House Republicans voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, for failing to protect the Southern Border. I think most would agree that border security has been an abysmal failure for years, but impeachment? Then two weeks ago, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin went off the grid without telling anyone, including President Biden. Turns out Austin was having a severe reaction to prostate cancer surgery. Republicans in the House promised to file impeachment against him as well, but so far have not. When does this end?
“Trump has Land of Lincoln, Thinking’” – On Wednesday, the State of Illinois Election Board voted to keep Trump on the ballot, at least for now. It’s a surprise because the eight-member board is in one of, “the bluest of blue states,” and the vote was unanimous. As with other states, Illinois Democrats believe Trump violated clause three of the 14th Amendment by contributing to an insurrection. This week the U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider a Colorado Supreme Court vote to remove Trump from the ballot there. In other legal developments, the judge moved the start of one of Trump’s criminal cases from the scheduled March 4th, which was one day before the Super Tuesday primaries. And then the special prosecutor in Trump’s Georgia trial admitted to having a relationship with a lawyer she hired to prosecute Trump. Illegal, or unethical? Probably not, but it just looks and smells bad. It just plays to Trump’s conspiracy theories.
“Navigating Nevada” – I’m making a real gamble here, that I can actually explain this to you (or, even to me). The next Republican presidential contests will both be in Nevada this coming week. The state-run primary is February 6th and is a beauty contest. No delegates are up for grabs, and Nikki Haley is on the ballot, but Trump is not. Two days later, the state GOP caucuses will be held. This time, Trump is on the ballot, but Haley is not. (Do you get now, why so many people hate politics?) The bottom line: twenty-six delegates are up for grabs, but all will certainly go to Trump. To many, it’s a rigged deck.