What RFK Jr.'s running mate pick says about his candidacy

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week chose Silicon Valley lawyer and entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan as his running mate in his independent bid for the presidency. Shanahan, the ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has no political experience but brings personal wealth and tech-industry connections to RFK Jr.'s campaign, which needs resources and allies to help it get onto the ballot in as many states as possible.

Shanahan, like the scion of the Kennedy political dynasty at the top of the ticket, is a former Democrat. She described herself as a "disillusioned Democrat," The New York Times said, and invited "disillusioned Republicans" to help "unify and heal America." She's also ardently pro-choice at a time when abortion rights promise to be a focus of the election. Kennedy, an outspoken anti-vaccine activist, bypassed "better known potential candidates including National Football League star Aaron Rodgers," and "named Shanahan at a campaign event that included attacks on the pharmaceutical industry and COVID lockdowns," said Reuters.

Kennedy, 70, introduced Shanahan, 38, as a "brilliant scientist" and a "fierce warrior mom" who is skeptical of regulated industries and a defender of average Americans. Shanahan said she would be Kennedy's "ally in making our nation healthy again." The first challenge, though, will be invigorating Kennedy's longshot campaign, which has the backing of 15% of registered voters compared to 39% for Biden and 38% for Trump, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. Will picking Shanahan give Kennedy a shot at victory or, at least, make him a more effective spoiler?

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This shows Kennedy's bid isn't serious

"Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s improbable bid for the presidency always looked more like a vanity project than a political campaign," said Chris Brennan at USA Today. Picking Shanahan as his running mate "only confirmed it." She turned her "political coming out party" into a commercial for "controversial and contested views" on vaccines, suggesting medicine was "one of the causes of her own daughter's autism." These two are "made for each other." Shanahan shares Kennedy's kooky views and has the "deep pockets" to "pay for his platform, feeding him validation and attention."

Kennedy insisted he would never pick a vice presidential candidate based on wealth, said Joan Walsh at The Nation. "That's just another in a string of lies Kennedy has told in his long career of shape-shifting and manipulation, culminating in his vain independent run for the presidency." The truth is there's "absolutely no reason to choose Shanahan" other than her money. "It's certainly not because of her political acumen," judging by her bragging about being a "driving force behind Kennedy's ghoulish Super Bowl commercial," which "superimposed" RFK Jr.'s image on his late uncle's 1960 campaign ad. The exploitation of assassinated President John F. Kennedy's historic Democratic campaign "bordered on political blasphemy," and left Kennedy cousins howling "in anger."

Actually, Shanahan could make Kennedy a contender

Putting Shanahan on the ticket was bound to give Democrats fits, said Greg Orman at RealClearPolitics. Previously, Kennedy "seemed to be drawing support equally across the political spectrum," attracting conservative-leaning voters who don't want former President Donald Trump back in the White House and left-leaning independents and some Democrats uneasy about giving President Joe Biden another four years. But Shanahan, "an ardently pro-choice former Democrat," could "tip the mix of Kennedy supporters" in a way that hurts Biden. It certainly could get "Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who were open to an alternative to Biden but skeptical of Kennedy's prior positions on reproductive rights" to give his campaign a "second look."

Unlike others in the "motley crew" on Kennedy's shortlist, including Jesse Ventura and Tulsi Gabbard, "Shanahan is by no means a household name," said John Hendrickson at The Atlantic. "Yet she could bolster Kennedy's outsider ticket in three pivotal ways." She's young enough to "help him appeal to younger voters" in a rematch between two major-party candidates facing questions about their age. She also gets Kennedy over the obstacle in several states that only let two-person tickets on the ballot. "And, of course, she has money" — "tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars." Kennedy still has just a "slim chance of winning the White House," but "his movement's potential to 'spoil' the election remains very real." Kennedy bills himself "as a bipartisan menace," but he's clearly betting that his new ticket could become a force to be reckoned with as Democrats battle "Biden fatigue."