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RFK Jr picks California lawyer Nicole Shanahan as his running mate.

samiam5211 said:
I think pretty much everyone who doesn't want to vote for Biden or Trump, just isn't going to vote.

I think the type of people who vote for 3rd parties, are voting for them because they believe in the candidate or party. Even more so than most of the people who will be voting for Biden or Trump.
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While some might be just not going to vote, many many more will look for someone they'd "prefer", think is a little less "awful" than the two main candidates appear to them. Many people only vote every 4 years to vote for President. If they are taking that time, even if they hate both candidates but feel they have an obligation to vote for someone, they are going to pick a 3rd Party candidate, and they probably aren't going to care which one, although they may base it on their personal views of what they think each might stand for.

I do think that if that "Literally Anybody Else" guy makes it onto the ballots, he will take some votes from RFK Jr and potentially some of the smaller Parties that tend to get on most ballots every year, Libertarian, Green, but I don't think he will really take many from the main 2. He'd be an easy lazy person choice to make.
 
Tender Branson said:
Kennedy / Shanahan now have to get onto the 51 ballots for the general election in November as Independents.

This is a very complicated process and the Biden-Democrats (and I assume Republicans) are trying everything to keep them off some important ballots in Nevada, Arizona etc. because they fear their candidacy.

Most states filing deadlines are only coming up between July and early September, but some, like Texas are already in May.

Independent candidates (unlike Ds and Rs) have to collect hundreds of thousands of signatures in states and file immensely bureaucratic paperwork to get ballot access.
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They may not get on all ballots but they will get on some ballots that matter. That's why Shanahan was chosen - she's got $ and with her Silicon Valley VC connections knows a thing or two about raising capital, albeit in a different context.
 
Tender Branson said:
US presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr has announced Silicon Valley lawyer and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan as his running mate.

Ms Shanahan, 38, the ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has never before run for political office.

Mr Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, anti-vaccine activist and scion of America's most famous political dynasty, is running as an independent.

964be3b0087c199de9591eb02991f6c733-26-kennedy.2x.rhorizontal.w700.jpg


Naming a VP pick is a prerequisite to be on the ballot in a number of states.

The Kennedy campaign has ruffled Democrats, who are concerned about its spoiler potential on President Joe Biden's re-election chances.

On Tuesday Mr Kennedy embraced that label, calling his campaign "a spoiler for President Biden and for President Trump" that will "forge an unstoppable coalition of homeless Democrats and homeless Republicans".

The Democratic National Committee has recently stepped up attacks on Mr Kennedy, arguing that his longshot third-party bid will only end up helping to elect the Republican candidate, Donald Trump.

Ms Shanahan was unveiled on Tuesday by Mr Kennedy at a rally in Oakland, California, where he described her as a "fellow lawyer, a brilliant scientist, technologist, a fierce warrior mom".

She has previously been a longtime Democratic donor and has already donated to Mr Kennedy's campaign. She said in her remarks that she was leaving the Democratic Party, because it had "lost its way" by focusing on "elitism" and "winning at all costs".

"I believe I am taking the best ideals and impulses with me," she said.

www.bbc.com

RFK Jr picks California lawyer Nicole Shanahan as his running mate

Silicon Valley lawyer and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan, 38, has never before run for political office.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

Will you Americans vote for them ?
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Unironically... WHO??
 
samiam5211 said:
I think pretty much everyone who doesn't want to vote for Biden or Trump, just isn't going to vote.

I think the type of people who vote for 3rd parties, are voting for them because they believe in the candidate or party. Even more so than most of the people who will be voting for Biden or Trump.
Click to expand...
This is likely true , although I wish viable third party candidates were the norm.

If they could pull 7-10% of the vote, their ideas could be incorporated (or dilute the crazy from either side).


I have been envisioning something like Britain's coalition of parties to form a governing body for a decade now, at least.
 
Cope said:
This is likely true , although I wish viable third party candidates were the norm.

If they could pull 7-10% of the vote, their ideas could be incorporated (or dilute the crazy from either side).


I have been envisioning something like Britain's coalition of parties to form a governing body for a decade now, at least.
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The accomplishments of the 117th Congress destroy what you've been envisioning. They would take 100 years under such a fragmented
approach to consensus through compromise. The distortions in the 117th process, inserted by corporate and hedge fund interests owned Manchin and Sinema were quite enough, thank you!

en.wikipedia.org

117th United States Congress - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
Cope said:
Usually a winning proposition.

A known name and the funding to get it out.
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Probably not so much if others can get out the fact that he is a pariah of his family, shunned by them and doesn't really hold similar positions as those once hailed as great politicians from it. As well as the fact that he has talked about putting Musk in his cabinet (not really something he could actually do though, I think) and/or as an advisor. She's not a known name, so it won't really matter if she funds the entire campaign, as they'd have a number of hurdles to overcome. They aren't getting to the WH. At most, they may move the needle for either Trump or Biden just enough in some states to change the election.
 
roguenuke said:
Probably not so much if others can get out the fact that he is a pariah of his family, shunned by them and doesn't really hold similar positions as those once hailed as great politicians from it. As well as the fact that he has talked about putting Musk in his cabinet (not really something he could actually do though, I think) and/or as an advisor. She's not a known name, so it won't really matter if she funds the entire campaign, as they'd have a number of hurdles to overcome. They aren't getting to the WH. At most, they may move the needle for either Trump or Biden just enough in some states to change the election.
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Yeah but you're talking specifics. I was just talking about in a general sense (not necessarily him)
 
Cope said:
Usually a winning proposition.

A known name and the funding to get it out.
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I gather the irony and absurdity of it lost on you.

I wonder if Kennedy will use his Hollywood wife in his battle against elitism.
 
She should brace herself. The rat party has already promised to go after any third party candidate and use any means at their disposal tp make sure no viable third party candidate can run.

Cuz......democracy and shit.....
 
VanceMack said:
She should brace herself. The rat party has already promised to go after any third party candidate and use any means at their disposal tp make sure no viable third party candidate can run.

Cuz......democracy and shit.....
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Thanks for your commitment to free and fair elections, lol!
 
VanceMack said:
She should brace herself. The rat party has already promised to go after any third party candidate and use any means at their disposal tp make sure no viable third party candidate can run.

Cuz......democracy and shit.....
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You posted as if you've resided under a rock these last 24 years. How many U.S. Mil KIA, 2001 - 2021 and Iraqis and Afghans and covid-19 victims would still be alive if Nader and Stein had never been born?



www.nbcnews.com

Guess who came to dinner with Flynn and Putin

NBC News reviewed video and photos from a 2015 Moscow gala that Mike Flynn was paid $45,000 to attend to see who else was in the room.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com
170405-putin-flynn-dinner-jhc-1700.jpg


https://theweek.com › articles › 735568 › ralph-nader-might-have-saved-democratic-party

Ralph Nader might have saved the Democratic Party​

Nader's contention that there was no meaningful difference between Gore and Bush was sharply, almost prophetically wrong. ... and boasted a roster of celebrities like Susan Sarandon who spoke on



Bush Rewrites History on Zarqawi Statements

archive.thinkprogress.org archive.thinkprogress.org

MARTHA: Mr. President, you have said throughout the war in Iraq and building up to the war in Iraq that there was a relationship between Saddam Hussein and Zarqawi and al Qaeda. A Senate Intelligence Committee report a few weeks ago said there was no link, no relationship, and that the CIA knew this and issued a report last fall. And yet a month ago, you were still saying there was a relationship. Why did you keep saying that? Why do you continue to say that? And do you still believe that?
Click to expand...

BUSH: The point I was making to Ken Herman’s question was that Saddam Hussein was a state sponsor of terror, and that Mr. Zarqawi was in Iraq. He had been wounded in Afghanistan, had come to Iraq for treatment. He had ordered the killing of a U.S. citizen in Jordan. I never said there was an operational relationship.
Click to expand...

VP Cheney, eight months later,

www.theguardian.com

US military study officially acknowledges for first time that Saddam Hussein had no direct ties to al-Qaida

A US military study officially acknowledged for the first time yesterday that Saddam Hussein had no direct ties to al-Qaida, undercutting the Bush administration's central case for war with Iraq
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
March 13, 2008

"..The Pentagon's independent auditor released a report last year that chastised an internal military office created by Bush allies for promoting a link between Hussein and al-Qaida despite intelligence showing that none existed. Even after that report, however, vice president Dick Cheney continued saying that al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi collaborated with Iraq.

Al-Zarqawi "took up residence there before we ever launched into Iraq, organized the al-Qaida operations inside Iraq before we even arrived on the scene," Cheney told conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh in April."
www.cbsnews.com

Pentagon: No Saddam-Al Qaeda Link

Meanwhile, Cheney Repeats Assertions Of Terror Group's Ties In Iraq
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com
April 6, 2007
"..Saddam Hussein's government did not cooperate with al Qaeda prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the U.S. Defense Department said in a report based on interrogations of the deposed leader and two of his former aides.

Meanwhile, Vice President Dick Cheney repeated his assertions of al Qaeda links to Saddam's Iraq, contending that the terrorist group was operating in Iraq before the March 2003 invasion led by U.S. forces and that terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was leading the Iraqi branch of al Qaeda. Others in al Qaeda planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"He took up residence there before we ever launched into Iraq, organized the al Qaeda operations inside Iraq before we even arrived on the scene and then, of course, led the charge for Iraq until we killed him last June," Cheney told radio host Rush Limbaugh during an interview Thursday. "As I say, they were present before we invaded Iraq."
 
Last edited:
Cope said:
This is likely true , although I wish viable third party candidates were the norm.

If they could pull 7-10% of the vote, their ideas could be incorporated (or dilute the crazy from either side).


I have been envisioning something like Britain's coalition of parties to form a governing body for a decade now, at least.
Click to expand...

Basically a strong third party candidate would end up throwing the vote to the House of Representaives where the party of Marjorie Taylor Greene gets to chose the president.
 
post said:
You posted as if you've resided under a rock these last 24 years. How many U.S. Mil KIA, 2001 - 2021 and Iraqis and Afghans and covid-19 victims would still be alive if Nader and Stein had never been born?



www.nbcnews.com

Guess who came to dinner with Flynn and Putin

NBC News reviewed video and photos from a 2015 Moscow gala that Mike Flynn was paid $45,000 to attend to see who else was in the room.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com
170405-putin-flynn-dinner-jhc-1700.jpg


https://theweek.com › articles › 735568 › ralph-nader-might-have-saved-democratic-party

Ralph Nader might have saved the Democratic Party​

Nader's contention that there was no meaningful difference between Gore and Bush was sharply, almost prophetically wrong. ... and boasted a roster of celebrities like Susan Sarandon who spoke on



Bush Rewrites History on Zarqawi Statements

archive.thinkprogress.org archive.thinkprogress.org





VP Cheney, eight months later,

www.theguardian.com

US military study officially acknowledges for first time that Saddam Hussein had no direct ties to al-Qaida

A US military study officially acknowledged for the first time yesterday that Saddam Hussein had no direct ties to al-Qaida, undercutting the Bush administration's central case for war with Iraq
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
March 13, 2008

"..The Pentagon's independent auditor released a report last year that chastised an internal military office created by Bush allies for promoting a link between Hussein and al-Qaida despite intelligence showing that none existed. Even after that report, however, vice president Dick Cheney continued saying that al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi collaborated with Iraq.

Al-Zarqawi "took up residence there before we ever launched into Iraq, organized the al-Qaida operations inside Iraq before we even arrived on the scene," Cheney told conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh in April."
www.cbsnews.com

Pentagon: No Saddam-Al Qaeda Link

Meanwhile, Cheney Repeats Assertions Of Terror Group's Ties In Iraq
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com
April 6, 2007
"..Saddam Hussein's government did not cooperate with al Qaeda prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the U.S. Defense Department said in a report based on interrogations of the deposed leader and two of his former aides.

Meanwhile, Vice President Dick Cheney repeated his assertions of al Qaeda links to Saddam's Iraq, contending that the terrorist group was operating in Iraq before the March 2003 invasion led by U.S. forces and that terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was leading the Iraqi branch of al Qaeda. Others in al Qaeda planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"He took up residence there before we ever launched into Iraq, organized the al Qaeda operations inside Iraq before we even arrived on the scene and then, of course, led the charge for Iraq until we killed him last June," Cheney told radio host Rush Limbaugh during an interview Thursday. "As I say, they were present before we invaded Iraq."
Click to expand...

The best rendition of "I Touch Myself" is this, and pretty relevant regarding elections (starts 1:43)

 
The 1st major filing deadline for Kennedy and any other independent candidate will come in TX in mid-May.

More than 100.000 signatures (!) are needed until then for such an independent candidate like Kennedy to appear on the ballot in November.

The D and R parties need to collect nothing to get on the ballot.

The polls show that Texas is unlikely to be a swing state in November, Trump won by 6 in 2020 and polls are showing him up by 4-11% right now.

But the Biden campaign is still investing money and other resources there, because they have plenty of cash available to make a play for it.

If Kennedy can get the 100.000+ signatures in Texas by mid-May, he probably can get on the ballot everywhere, because only CA has a higher signature requirement.
 
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