Tuesday, June 20, 2023

YES, IT'S TIME TO GO NEGATIVE ON RFK JR.

Democrats are debating whether to attack Robert Kennedy Jr. or ignore him, The Hill reports:
Bill Carrick, a veteran Democratic strategist, urged the Biden campaign to take the high road and treat Kennedy as if he barely exists. “I think they should ignore him. I just don’t think there’s any point in [engaging] in it. He’s not the least bit of a threat to President Biden,” Carrick said....

But others warn that there are dangers in that approach.

“You can’t let cancers metastasize,” said Bakari Sellers, a CNN commentator and former Democratic state representative in South Carolina.
I agree with Carrick that Biden and his campaign shouldn't attack Kennedy. But Sellers is right to say that ignoring Kennedy is dangerous. A Democratic group that's independent of the Biden campaign should be pushing back on Kennedy's media blitz.

I say this not because I think Kennedy could actually beat Biden in the primaries. The main reason Kennedy could use a bit of scuffing up is that the media loves him - or at least loves covering him. Part of it is the press's desperate hope for a genuine horserace in at least one of the parties. Beyond that, reporters and editors seem to be find RFK Jr. captivating, as if a 1960s Kennedy is suddenly walking the earth, but infused with outsider political magic, the kind of thing they seem to find thrilling in Donald Trump.

You see this even in stories that acknowledge how dangerous Kennedy's ideas are. For example, take a look at this long story on Kennedy by Brandy Zadrozny, who covers misinformation, extremism, and online culture for NBC News. The second half of Zadrozny's story is full of appalling details about Kennedy -- follow the links in one paragraph and you'll learn that Kennedy once appeared at an anti-vaxx forum with a spokesman for Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam at the group's community center in South Los Angeles; a few month later, Farrakhan himelf tweeted this:


But even Zadrozny can't resist writing about Kennedy as if he has the star quality of his father and brother. In her opening paragraphs, she meets him as he is
partway up a 3-mile trail near Mandeville Canyon, a hike he makes every morning with his two Gordon setters and 1-year-old German shorthaired pointer.

I am one of many reporters dispatched to profile Kennedy, who is so busy, and has so many journalists attached to the campaign, according to his press person, that accompanying him to official events won’t be possible. So, on a Monday morning in late May, we are on this hike instead, a winding trek up and back down a steep hill, as Kennedy lays out his vision of the country he aims to lead....

As Kennedy speaks, his dogs remain at attention. For a long time. No treats are given.

“It’s something called an intermittent reward system,” Kennedy, noticing my discomfort, explains of the lapse. “I learned it from falconry. If you don’t give the animal a treat every time, it actually makes them more obedient.”

... He flicks three treats into the air and the dogs snap up their rewards.

Every story that makes Kennedy look like a charismatic, vigorous challenger -- even the ones that eventually run through all the worst conspiracy theories Kennedy champions, as this one does -- implies that maybe he's right to challenge the weary old incumbent. Every story that conveys Kennedy's ability to talk at length (as they all do, because he loves to talk and he's good at bamboozling reporters) is a reminder that public speaking isn't Biden's superpower. Every story that makes Kennedy look strong makes Biden look weaker. Biden doesn't need that.

I hope soon there'll be a website dense with vivid details about Kennedy's bad ideas and unsavory relationships, as well as about his Trumpist fan base. I hope we'll see ads making the same points. Kennedy is a bad person, and the sooner he's tarnished, the better it will be for Democrats who want to beat Donald Trump.

Don't give Kennedy too much attention. But define him before the starry-eyed media does.
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