Welcome back! I’m finally catching up and getting back into a regular posting cadence! A lot has happened over the last few days, so let’s recap and discuss.
1.) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Dropped Out of the 2024 Presidential Race – Who does this help?
As you probably have heard by now, the nephew of former president John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has suspended his campaign for president of the United States. From the start, Kennedy was a losing candidate. First, he ran as an Independent, though he was a registered Democrat until 2023. Historically, Independents have never won the presidency, and their polling often diminishes the longer they stay in the race (click here to learn more). There is a place for Independents in politics, primarily since 43% of Americans identify as Independents. However, given the high stakes in this election, this is not the race for an Independent to potentially pull votes from another candidate.
Before I discuss the impact of RFK Jr.’s withdrawal from the race, let’s quickly examine his policies. Most notably, RFK Jr. had some appeal with younger voters. I have a few friends who were supporters of RFK Jr. They like his environmental, food/agriculture, home ownership, and mental health positions. While these are all great causes, and I applaud anyone who wants to tackle them, RFK’s positions would have never become law because he has no base in Congress. They also would have failed against the DC lobbyists.
However, since dropping out, RFK Jr. has endorsed Donald Trump, which I find to be an absolute insult to his supporters, but sadly, at the same time, not surprising. At the core of Trump’s environmental policies is deregulation. While one can argue that some forms of deregulation are beneficial for achieving things, I fail to see how deregulating clean water and air quality measures, limiting wildlife protections, and rolling back standards on carbon emissions and mercury pollution are pro-environment policies. By the way, Trump did all those things in his first term. I fear the environment would suffer further under a second Trump term.
In contrast, Vice President Harris played a quiet but crucial role in helping Biden get the Congressional votes needed to pass his Infrastructure Act and Inflation Reduction Act, which had many pro-environment policies in them, including reducing carbon and methane emissions, tax credits for electric vehicles, and increasing progress towards renewable energy. Although we still do not know the totality of Harris’ own environmental policies, they would likely be healthier than the Trump policies.
Besides the environment, RFK was also dangerous to public health, having been a vocal vaccine skeptic. As we saw with COVID, it is the president’s responsibility to protect Americans, not push pseudo-science that can lead to deadly results. I could continue explaining why RFK Jr. should have never been considered a serious candidate, but I’ll let his family do that. If anyone would like to discuss RFK Jr. more, I’d be happy to do so.
The million-dollar question with RFK Jr. out of the race is: Who does this help or hurt?
Despite Trump’s endorsement, I do not think the young voters will follow RFK Jr. over to Trump. They may either go to Harris or sit the election out completely. Check out this excellent analysis by Pew to learn more about the RFK Jr. withdrawal. Overall, I hope we can put RFK Jr. to bed once and for all and focus on the actual candidates of the race. What do you think of RFK Jr.? Does his withdrawal from the race change who you will be voting for?
2.) Former Bush Advisers Endorse Vice President Harris
As of today, the 2024 election is 61 days away! It’s unbelievable how fast time flies! At the end of last week, over 200 Bush, McCain, and Romney former staffers and advisers penned an open letter warning Americans of the dangers of a second Trump term and showing their support for Kamala Harris.
While I’m sure these staffers will be derided as RINOs, I want to remind people that Bush, McCain, and Romney are actual Conservatives and should be what new Conservatives look to and not diminish. However, post-Trump and with the rise of far-right populism, the party has unfortunately written off these men.
In their letter, the staffers admitted they have policy differences with Harris and Walz, and that was to be expected. However, they also stated that Trump “will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions.” If that isn’t a powerful line, then I don’t know what is. If you haven’t noticed by now, it is pretty evident that the theme of “country before party” is growing stronger and stronger by the day. A vote against Trump is not a vote against Conservatism; it is a vote for the protection of America and American Democracy. While I’m sure this won’t move the needle much, the optics are vital, and it sends a message to Republicans who are on the fence about voting for Kamala Harris.
Do messages like these move the needle for you?
3.) Trump Arlington Cemetery Controversy – Did it do more damage than good?
By now, it’s no surprise that Trump is in the middle of another controversy involving the U.S. military. The incident all stems from reports that a Trump aide pushed an Arlington Cemetery official during Trump’s visit to honor families of servicemen killed in Afghanistan during the withdrawal in 2021.
This would not be the first time Trump has been at the center of some questionable statements towards the U.S. military. In July 2015, Trump made disparaging remarks about Senator John McCain, who was held as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. In 2016, he made unpleasant remarks about the Khan family, whose son died in Iraq. Most recently, he even suggested that the Presidential Medal of Freedom was better than receiving the Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration for service members who have carried out acts of valor. Because of all these incidents, Trump has faced criticism from both sides.
Going back to the title incident: Supposedly, Trump was invited by some families of fallen servicemen who died in Afghanistan to pay respects at Arlington National Cemetery. The reporting on whether Kamala Harris was invited is mixed – some say she was asked, others not, so I can’t comment. During Trump’s visit, it was reported that an altercation occurred. It is worth noting that this supposedly happened between a Trump aide and the Arlington staffer, not Trump himself.
Why is this controversial? Paying respects is not contentious and very respectful, but Arlington has a strict rule preventing Arlington from being used for political campaigning. Trump used footage from his visit to Arlington in a TikTok campaign video, potentially violating Arlington rules. I say potentially because there are a lot of conflicting interpretations of this statute. I am not an expert, so I don’t know. The visit was a nice gesture, and any footage obtained with or without permission should have never been released.
What do you think of this incident? Was it politically motivated or just a misinterpreted moment? Do you believe Donald Trump respects our military?
4.) Donald Trump and Women’s Rights – He Doesn’t Even Know What He Supports, So Why Should We Believe Him?
I am going to end this week’s post with this story. To make up for the short commentary this week, I will do a few standalone pieces at the end of this week until the debate.
This should not come as a surprise, but Donald Trump appears to be flip-flopping on Republican’s most coveted political stance, and that is their pro-life stance. Abortion is a very charged issue for both sides. I have my own beliefs, but I am a man and cannot carry a baby, so I’m going to sit back and discuss the politics of the issue instead.
Abortion and overturning Roe v. Wade were the primary reasons Republicans voted for Donald Trump, who pledged to appoint conservative Supreme Court justices to do just that. While Trump has done very little of what he has said he would, he did and succeeded in this. But at what cost?
For the last two years since the overturning of Roe, Biden, VP Harris, and Democrats have made abortion and women’s reproductive rights a core issue – and a winning one, too. Since Roe was overturned, 11 states have expanded access to abortion, 10 have protected access to abortion, three states have abortion rights unprotected, and 14 states have made abortion illegal. See the data here. And before you jump to conclude that only Democrats support abortion measurements, 79% of Republican women support abortions for women who are experiencing medical emergencies, and 69% of Republican women support abortions for women who are raped or experienced incest. Women protect women.
With abortion being a winning issue for Democrats and a losing one for Republicans, it’s not surprising that last week, Donald Trump blasted FL’s ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, saying he would vote against the current law. Fun Fact: most women don’t even know they’re pregnant at six…However, when Trump learned it was a losing issue for many Evangelical voters (who brought Trump victory in 2016), he quickly changed his mind and said he supported the six-week ban. While every politician flip-flops on a few issues, there are right and wrong reasons to do so. Changing your view on something because of new information and experiences is called growth, and I think I should be applauded.
Donald Trump has yet to learn or even attempt to learn anything new. He is flip-flopping based on whatever he thinks will win the election. If he’s so quick to change his mind back and forth on this issue, it makes me question his ability to act in the country’s best interest regarding foreign conflicts, domestic issues, and overall leadership.
What do you think of Trump’s flip-flopping? Is he right to do so? Does it change your perception?
Check back soon for my next post, a standalone commentary on last Thursday’s Kamala-Walz joint interview. See you next time!
As always, feel free to engage with the post and share it!
Pat's Perspective 