So what if RFK Jr. continues to run? Well it's possible he spoils Biden's chance at being re-elected. I fully expect the downvote brigade to visit this post and bury it, but at least consider what I am saying.
In 2020
Winner: 306 (Joe Biden)
Loser: 232 (Donald J. Trump)
Trump versus Biden? Young voters not excited about choosing between oldest candidates ever
The prospect of choosing between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, both more than twice their age, underwhelms the growing number of voters under the age of 40.
So how many voters are typically that young?
(who voted in thousands)
- 18-24 | 7,372
- 25-34 | 15,396
- 35-44 | 18,401
- 45-64 | 43,661
- 65+ | 37,086
To make this easier, that's roughly a third of voters.
- up to 44 | 41,169
- 45 or older | 80,747
Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (currently age 69) isn't young, but is younger than Biden (currently 80) or Trump (currently 77)
Now, some will vote for Biden, and some will vote Trump. But could a 12% tipping occur? Possibly. If RFK Jr. runs, and saps away votes from Biden, it would only take 37 electoral votes (about 12%) from Biden's 2020 performance to put Biden at 269 votes. It takes 270 to win.
But there's no way Trump's gonna get enough to win, you say. He doesn't have to:
https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/faq
What happens if no presidential candidate gets 270 electoral votes?
If no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, the Presidential election leaves the Electoral College process and moves to Congress.
The House of Representatives elects the President from the three (3) Presidential candidates who received the most electoral votes. Each State delegation has one vote and it is up to the individual States to determine how to vote. (Since the District of Columbia is not a State, it has no State delegation in the House and cannot vote). A candidate must receive at least 26 votes (a majority of the States) to be elected.
The Senate elects the Vice President from the two (2) Vice Presidential candidates with the most electoral votes. Each Senator casts one vote for Vice President. (Since the District of Columbia is has no Senators and is not represented in the vote). A candidate must receive at least 51 votes (a majority of Senators) to be elected.
If the House of Representatives fails to elect a President by Inauguration Day, the Vice-President Elect serves as acting President until the deadlock is resolved in the House.
House
This data is from Sept. 20 https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/20/politics/mccarthy-house-speaker-vote-margin-numbers-dg/index.html
- R 221 | 31 far-right Republicans who have repeatedly voted against McCarthy + 18 moderate Republicans in districts Biden won in 2020 + 172 other Republicans
- D 212 | 212 Democrats
- X | 2 vacancies
All it takes is a party-line vote and a Republican becomes Prez.
Senate
This data is from https://www.senate.gov/history/partydiv.htm
117th Congress (2021–2023)
-
Majority Party: Democrats (48 seats)
-
Minority Party: Republicans (50 seats)
-
Other Parties: 2 Independents (all caucus with the Democrats)
-
Total Seats: 100
All it takes is a party-line vote and a Democrat becomes VP.
TL;DR It could be Trump (R) and Harris (D)...
I have yet to see compelling evidence that RFK pulls more Democratic voters than Republicans. And the more attention he gets, the worse he'll do.
Isn’t RFK Jr super anti-vaxx? I know nothing of his platform but I don’t see him taking D voters based on that.
Yes. He also thinks that the COVID virus was made by China to infect everyone except them and Jews. (RFK Jr is highly anti-semitic also.) I'll bet it will come as a huge shock to anyone who is Chinese or Jewish who got COVID that they actually couldn't get it because they should be immune.
He's also been going on about all kinds of conspiracy theories, appearing on foxnews, speaking at CPAC, etc. Other than the Kennedy name he doesn't seem appealing to Democrats at all as far as I can tell. Also his own siblings have spoken out against him.
Extra super antivax. Based on that alone most Democrats would refuse to vote for him because it makes him sound like one hell of a Republican.
The orange guy found out that RFK would take more votes from him so he will be going after him.
It's very clear the GOP thinks he's more of a problem for them than Democrats because as soon as he declared he's going to run as an independent, they began attacking him profusely, calling him radical left, electric cars for everyone, yadda yadda.
Exactly. Democrats woke up in 2016. They have won tons of elections since, including midterms. They are not going to fooled by the wolf in Grandma's outfit.
They stirred a little, but I wouldn't say they've woken up. Especially people 35 and under who still aren't showing up to vote (although most people aren't)
That's actually 100% wrong. "Most people" did turn up to vote in 2020. 67% of citizens over age 18.
Voters under 35 increased the most. 57% of them voted.
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/record-high-turnout-in-2020-general-election.html