The conventional wisdom is divided, as everything is nowadays. Republicans believe that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to suspend his campaign in the swing states and endorse Trump could boost Trump by a few crucial points.
Democrats, on the other hand, are downplaying the "defection" (after they spent millions trying to exclude him from the ballot all over the country, even in deep-blue New York). They say RFK Jr. is going to be a liability for Trump.
So which is it?
When Biden was in, RFK Jr. was a liability for the Democrats. He gave those who did not want to vote for Biden but could not stomach a vote for Trump a symbolic alternative. It could have cost Biden several swing states.
With Kamala Harris replacing Biden, RFK Jr. was a liability for Republicans. The Democrats now had a different, younger, candidate, and the remaining RFK Jr. voters were likely independents for whom Trump was not a first choice.
But RFK Jr. decided he did not want to help the Democrats -- and who can blame him? They smeared him as an antisemite; they tried to sue him off the ballot, they used his family against him; and they denied him Secret Service protection.
The effect will be to move some -- not all -- of the RFK Jr. vote to the Trump column.
But it's more than that. RFK Jr. also validates Trump's campaign -- the Kennedy name still counts -- and gives it new energy, a new edge.
If you listened to RFK's speech -- and it was awesome (here's the transcript: https://im1776.com/2024/08/24/rfk-address-to-the-nation/) -- you heard him throw down a serious challenge to the Democrats, the media, and the country's governing establishment.
RFK Jr. reframed Kamala Harris from the candidate of "joy" to the puppet of party leaders, a media oligarchy, and a state apparatus that have conspired to suppress democracy in the name of defending it. He called out her emptiness.
He also laid out the case against U.S. foreign policy in Ukraine.I don't agree with him entirely, but leave that for the moment: the point is that no one had heard it before. Think of that: $200 billion later, and never a counterargument.
Finally, and most consequentially, Kennedy talked about his major issues: free speech, preventing war, and addressing the crisis of chronic health problems among America's children, especially through nutrition and poor regulation.
These are fresh ideas. The free speech issue has been raging for a while, but as long as Republicans were the main victims, no one really cared. With Kennedy pushing the issue to the forefront, it's impossible to ignore -- at least, it is now.
Some pundit -- I forget who, and it might have actually been Nikki Haley -- said during the primary that since many American voters were sick of Biden and Trump, whichever party nominated a younger candidate would win.
Harris is the Democrats' younger candidate. JD Vance doesn't quite fit the bill, somehow, maybe because he's the vice presidential candidate, or maybe he's just SO young (just 40). But Kennedy, though 70, has a youthful energy.
I, for one, am grateful that Kennedy has established his pro-Israel credentials so clearly. If he hadn't done so, all the media would be talking about would be that Trump had embraced an "antisemite" (what a lie!), and you know the rest of it.
This is my first broadcast from the new office and studio in Washington, DC, where I'll be for a couple of years my neighborhood back in L.A. cleans up -- and as we follow the Trump administration from a little closer up than usual.
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This week’s portion tells the grand story of the prophet who tried to curse people of Israel and instead ended up blessing them.
I am reminded that these portions continue to be relevant anew, as this particular reading lent the title for Israel’s recent 12 Day War against Iran, “Operation Rising Lion.”
This week's portion includes the commandment of the red heifer -- one of the classic "irrational" commandments whose fulfillment is an expression of faith. It also includes the regrettable episode in which Moses strikes the rock.
I referred to this story in a wedding speech last night. Why was Moses punished for striking the rock in Numbers, when he struck the rock without incident in Exodus -- both for the purpose of providing water to the people?
The answer is that in the interim, the Jewish people had received the Torah, which is like the marriage contract between the people of Israel and God. In a marriage, you do not resolve things by breaking boundaries, but through love.
The additional reading, from Judges Chapter 11, is the story of Jephthah (Yiftach), a man whom the leaders spurn, but to whom they must turn to save the nation. The parallels to our present political circumstances are striking.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Fourth of July!
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