RFK Jr. has announced that his running mate is Nicole Shanahan. Who? Exactly.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... o-00149015
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I've been a bit more concerned about the impact of RFK Jr.'s candidacy towards Biden than most on this board. I think anyone who looks at his choice of Nicole Shanahan and dismisses it as an unserious choice for an unserious candidate is correct to do so. The kindest thing I can say about his choice is that 1) she'll fund his campaign, and 2) there was no way for RFK Jr. to choose a serious running mate without alienating some key constituency of lunatics. Imagining for a second that RFK Jr. has a 1% chance of being President and taking his campaign seriously, I think this is a lousy choice because he's effectively turned off his loudest group of right-wing supporters and turned them towards Trump by choosing someone with progressive-ish causes and was married to one of the tech giants that RFK Jr. built the start of his campaign railing against. I think Trump was always going to win most of those lunatics back but I think he just won at least 50% more of them back. Her selection pivots RFK Jr. towards his history of environmentalism and towards independents, Democrats who just want a third option, and young people. All of whom, Biden desperately needs to win in historic numbers.
By the way, anyone that wants to reassure me that we have this thing is welcome. I keep hearing Truman comparisons touting about. I keep seeing Benjamin Harrison.
A couple scattered thoughts:
-depending on how you look at it, Nicole Shanahan is the first Millennial on a major-ish ticket. Evan McMullan's 2016 campaign was pretty niche. His running mate Mindy Finn was born in February, 1981 which (as a January 1981 baby) is a pretty borderline case. Nicole Shanahan is born in either 1985 or 1986. She is fascinated by gut biomes, her favorite show is Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt, and she met her most recent husband at Burning Man. She is a fucking Millennial. I could see her helping RFK Jr. with young voters. This is going to help RFK Jr. with his right-policy/left-vibes campaign.
-unless I'm mistaken, this is the first major-ish ticket where both the top and the bottom are divorced. Maybe someone can correct me. I vaguely recall this being a big stigma during my political awakening. Not anymore. They're also both twice divorced.
-if Trump chooses a woman (which all speculation points to), then this will be the first election where all major candidates' running mates are women. Like Harris, she's also Asian-American. If Trump chooses a person of color, then this will be the first election where all major candidates' running mates are people of color.