Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been an interesting entity to watch and not just because he’s become something of a pariah to his own Democrat Party but because right-leaning America has grown rather fond of him.
Of course, I’ve watched many a right-leaning American become aghast when it comes out that RFK Jr. has Democrat beliefs that they could never get behind in a million years. For instance, his idea that “There’s no daylight between good environmental policy and good economic policy” could make any conservative cringe. Moreover, his stance on being pro-abortion isn’t something I’d consider anywhere in the realm of good.
But for his faults, RFK Jr. has a quality that the Democrat Party has lacked for some time; reasonability. It’s such a rare quality from that side of the aisle nowadays that Republicans and conservatives have taken notice, and heaped praise on the man where applicable. We here at RedState have taken an interest in this anomaly ourselves and have written our fair share of analyses and reports.
To be sure, RFK Jr. is great, but Republicans and conservatives need to remember that, at the end of the day, he is a Democrat. Right-leaning Americans make the mistake of viewing him through a Republican lens. Not only does it give you a skewed idea of who RFK Jr. is, but it leaves people incredibly disappointed and even angry when he differs from them wildly on specific subjects.
The smart thing to do is to view him through the lens of his party; the Democrats.
But this doesn’t mean that Republicans need to lose their respect for the guy. In fact, I think it should be greatly encouraged and for a good reason, and it has a lot to do with the current relationship status between Republicans and Democrats.
It’s my honest opinion that we in this country, namely the left and the right in general, spend a lot of time fighting useless battles. A perfect example would be the transgender argument. As I’ve made clear in the past, transgenderism and gender dysphoria are two separate things. The latter is an actual mental illness, but the former is a political mind virus. Its primary reason for existing is to give Democrats an army of very rabid activists to fight for them and a framing device that makes Republicans look hateful and bigoted.
If the Democrat Party wasn’t half as radical as it is, we probably wouldn’t even be having this fight.
A far less radical Democrat Party likely wouldn’t have attempted vaccine mandates or kept lockdown procedures longer than was necessary. Like transgenderism, both became a tool with which to garner support from the terrified and hatred for Republicans and conservatives looking to follow common sense.
The Democrat Party’s radicalism keeps us roped up in ridiculous fights, attempt to create ridiculous laws, and consistently threatens the very core beliefs and legal standards of our nation. It makes you wonder what we could accomplish if we weren’t having to constantly deal with that.
RFK Jr. has proved two very important things. For one, he’s not a radical. He’s reminiscent of an old-school Democrat that has his Democrat beliefs but understands that there are realities that need to be faced and standards that need to be adhered to. Secondly, he’s willing to talk to Republicans in good faith and have conversations.
RFK Jr.’s popularity among voters on both sides of the aisle isn’t a mistake, but their respect and adoration for him come from two different perspectives. For many Democrat voters, he’s the escape hatch that voters can take to escape from the radicalized mess the Democrat Party has become. I’ve spoken to quite a few Democrats who find themselves uncomfortable with some of the positions and platforms elected officials have taken. They don’t want their state to look like California, they don’t want their children indoctrinated with LGBT beliefs or CRT revisionism, and want their border closed and their economy strong. RFK Jr. represents an opportunity to bring the party back to something more sensible and substantial.
For Republicans, he represents much the same, but his potential leadership of the Democrat Party could open the door for a better America just by virtue of the fact that it, and America in general, will be dealing with far less divisiveness, fewer battles with radical ideas, and a more America-first mentality on more than a few topics.
It will still be the Democrat Party and there will still be plenty of battles to fight, but I’d rather fight an RFK Jr.-inspired Democrat Party than whoever is pulling Joe Biden’s strings behind the curtain. At least with RFK Jr., in charge of the Democrats, we could get more done.
That’s a big “if,” though. In order for RFK Jr. to become the top Democrat dog, he’d have to be the overwhelming Democrat Party pick for the 2024 Primary, and there’s no way the DNC would let that happen. The radicals are embedded in deep and they’ll do what they did to Bernie Sanders when he threatened their pick in Hillary Clinton.
If the Democrats really want to turn it around, they’ll have to have a revolution within the party, and while anything is possible, Democrats rising up to bring down radical Democrats probably isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
