Oddsmakers Take Notice as RFK Jr. Gets Quarter of Voter Approval
The numbers don't lie.
One of the more respected polling outlets, Quinnipiac University, found that 22 percent of respondents in their recent survey support Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
In a three way race, that's going to make an impact.
Case in point, That same poll shows that current U.S. President Joe Biden would take 39 percent of the vote, and former U.S. President Donald Trump would come away with 36 percent when RFK Jr. is added to the equation. Independents, who make up the largest voting block, backed the American environmental lawyer 36 percent chose him, compared with 31 percent for Trump and 30 percent for Biden.
BetOnline is offering odds for RFK Jr. to be elected next President in 2024 set at 16-1. That is up from 20-1 odds just two weeks ago. He's now got the 4th shortest odds after Biden, Trump and California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who is not running at this moment. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has jumped over him in recent days at 12-1 odds.
The former Democrat, now running as an Independent, tends to attract those supporters of Republican candidate Trump more so than Biden. RFK, Jr. is viewed as an outsider looking to shake up the establishment, similar to the role Trump played in 2016. To a certain extent the former President is now seen as part of the "swamp" having already served within it.
Kennedy, Jr. is well known for his conspiracy theories as well.
David Remmick of The New Yorker recently wrote a piece on "The Alternative Facts of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.".
Over the years, conspiracy theories promoted by Kennedy, Jr. include Covid-19 targeting certain races and gives others immunity, mass shootings being linked to certain prescription drugs and that the wrong person may have been convicted in killing his famous father, Robert F. Kennedy. The latter conspiracy, we should note, has been around for many decades.
Remmick also writes:
"Kennedy’s habits of mind are MAGA-adjacent, but his manner differs from that of his Republican doppelgänger. Donald Trump is a bully—rude, swaggering, out to flatten his questioner under an avalanche of lies and volume. Kennedy is not rude. Rather, he is serenely convinced of his virtue and his interlocutor’s pitiful susceptibility to conventional wisdom.
"Among the obvious parallels between Kennedy and Trump is their disdain for 'élites,' their suspicion of, in Trump’s words, the “deep state,” and their belief that traditional media and “cancel culture” threaten to silence them."
It's true his famous last name likely plays a role in some of the polling. In past times, this might prove detrimental to the Democratic party who want to see Biden re-elected. More recently, supporters of the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon have become obsessed with another late Kennedy, John Kennedy Jr.
Michael Protzman first predicted JFK would reappear in Downtown Dallas then beckoned followers back to Dallas after insisting the original date was incorrect. Protzman died over the summer after suffering injuries in a dirt bike accident.
- Frank Doyle, Gambling911.com
