April 24, 2023

"Just as Teddy Kennedy’s challenge to Carter came at a time of national 'malaise,' now Bobby Kennedy, Jr.’s challenge to Biden comes at a time of national demoralization."

"According to an NBC News poll in January, 71 percent of Americans think the country is on the wrong track, with four in five believing that we’re either in a recession or about to be in one. So, it’s little wonder that Biden’s approval rating is a steady ten points underwater. And another poll found that 56 percent of Americans have doubts about Biden’s 'fitness' for his job. According to an April 19 poll, Kennedy already has the votes of 14 percent of those who say they voted for Biden in 2020. Just as interestingly, Biden has the backing of just 67 percent of those who voted for him; that’s soft support. In fact, primary challenges against an incumbent president are never a good sign for the incumbent—or for the party trying to hold the White House. As we have seen, Teddy Kennedy’s challenge to Carter presaged the Democrats’ loss of the White House in 1980. In 1992, pundit Pat Buchanan challenged George H.W. Bush in the Republican primaries, giving the incumbent a scare in New Hampshire. Bush was renominated, but later lost badly to Democrat Bill Clinton."

59 comments:

tim in vermont said...

Remember when we had two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth, but we were told that we weren't in a recession because the jobs numbers were so great, and then a few months later, it turned out that the jobs numbers were simply cooked, and were all Biden Admin fantasy? That was cool.

Gusty Winds said...

From what I have read on Twitter, Democrats are not planning to have any primary debates. They won't give RFK Jr. and chance to be heard.

When you have a functional ballot stuffing operations, control of the counting machines, and the ability to shut down same day GOP voting, you don't have to answer to the electorate.

Bigger problem is, Democrat voters think this is just fine.

Don't forget to get your booster!!

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Joe ain’t gonna debate Bobby Jr. He just won’t.

Kate said...

I read this earlier and enjoyed it. Because of your post here the other day, I kept asking myself, "How much nostalgia do I bring to an RFK, Jr. campaign?" Quite a lot, I believe. And the photos with the article play that up.

Then I looked at the comments and remembered why I hardly ever visit Breitbart. AI could replace them and no one would notice.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

High crime, woke insanity, media lies for the party, Biden family corruption (hidden and kept out of the media) high crime rates, criminals let go, high inflation, cost of living madness, Fauci gain of function pandemic, questionable forced jabs, sex sex sex for children, an open southern border with new millions on our public dole, fentanyl across the border, high crime, inflation, bank implosions, national dept at highest level ever... teetering us all on the edge of national financial ruin, Biden's globalist wars, Biden family grift in China etc...


but - the left do have their precious abortion.... and trans insanity, and lies like " Don't say gay" and "book banning" (even though the left ban the classics while good people try to keep porn for kids out of school library's - placed there by the insane over-sexualized Soviet left.)
and as always- our hack-D corrupt press.

Narayanan said...

did not even then Carter gained the nomination >> so what to expect from this challenge?

Meade said...

Joe Biden could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and rape a transgender child and not lose any voters.

Chuck said...

Breitbart.

Are you freaking kidding me?

Chuck said...

Blogger Meade said...
Joe Biden could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and rape a transgender child and not lose any voters.

All things considered, that’s a comment that qualifies as “perverse.” Good luck with blogging this week’s rape trial.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Meade - 100%

Breezy said...

Who would have imagined a Kennedy sounding so conservative? I wonder why he hasn’t switched parties. From a dem perch, though, and being a Kennedy, perhaps he has more clout to move the dem elite to saner and more popular policies for the well-being of the average American. That would be most welcome.

I suspect he and Obama are mortal enemies.

Enigma said...

The direct way out of our current political morass comes from the center-left.

Principled leftists (Matt Tiabbi, Bari Wiess, Tulsi Gabbard, etc.) need to break away and aggressively fight internal Party corruption and incompetence. The left owns the institutions and thereby had many in-group blind spots regarding coherence, integrity, function, and competence. The right is out of the loop and extremely weak in the institutions, so they should stand by with open arms to establish a large centrist / functional / sane majority.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Chuck prefers PBS news, Maddow, Morning Joe and the pimps at CNN(D)

Dave Begley said...

Bobby!

Drago said...

LLR-democratical and Violent Homosexual Rage Rape Fantasist Chuck: "Breitbart.

Are you freaking kidding me?"

It appears our Maddow/Media Matters Fanboy "Karen" would once again like to speak with the blog manager.

And if LLR-democratical and Violent Homosexual Rage Rape Fantasist Chuck is complaining about something then his sidekick lonejustice cannot be far behind.

Lets see what happens next.

rhhardin said...

Incompetence is the story. It's not a mood matter.

Chuck said...

So what Breitbart and its readers are apparently looking forward to, is the historic mano-a-mano challenge of RFKJr versus JFKJr.

Where we go one, we go all.

Joe Smith said...

I'm always shocked that Biden's numbers are above 20%.

Even if you're a lefty cheerleader your life can't be any better than under Trump.

I guess, of course, except for all the socialism.

West TX Intermediate Crude said...

I'm halfway through Heymann's biography of RFK. I was in high school when he died, so of a certain age.
If half the stuff Heymann put in the book is true, the Kennedys were possibly the worst family in the history of this country. The father was a nazi sympathizer, the 3 political brothers were all power hungry whoremongers, their women were ciphers. RFK had a soft spot for the poor and downtrodden, but only to use them as a crutch to more power. He abused the powers of the state far worse than anything Tucker alleges that Garland et al are currently doing.
Too many parallels to today's events to mention, but encouraging in a way.
Sometimes I read of what is going on in this country and think that we have no future, but, it has ever been thus. Oftentimes, worse than thus. The linked article draws parallels between Jr's position in the Democratic party and Trump's position in the Republican. I agree, and both are the best news that our country could hope for.
I'll stay optimistic and ready to join the fight.

Duke Dan said...

With Carter you can say voters didn’t expect what they ended up getting. No so with Biden. Anyone who voted for him voted for decline and all the crap happening in America right now. But hey, no means tweets. Just unfortunate they screwed their fellow citizens. Hope they feel good about it.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

...and yet - Biden is set to announce. He's a puppet - pure and simple.

We live in the Soviet United states - we are governed by greed and corruption.

wendybar said...

His own Biden loving grifting family is against him. THAT alone makes me like him more.

Rusty said...

Meade said...
"Joe Biden could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and rape a transgender child and not lose any voters."
Now you've done it. You've revealed Biden's election strategy.

Dude1394 said...

Not only is the country on the “wrong track” it has become a destabilizing element in the world. Decades of destabilizing the Middle East, pushing Russia into defending itself against nato intrusion, using the petrodollar as a weapon, destabilizing it.

This country is no longer the good guys. In face the west in general have become fascist and are targeting their own people corruptly. And it has accelerated under democrat rule.

Drago said...

LLR-democratical and Violent Homosexual Rage Rape Fantasist Chuck: "All things considered, that’s a comment that qualifies as “perverse.” Good luck with blogging this week’s rape trial."

Yes.

Chuck wrote that. Just now. As if his entire history of sexually perverse posting along with violent anti-woman and disturbing child-focused posting was not a matter of record at Althouse blog.

That's so much bizarre and transparent projection for our admitted "drive a wedge between Althouse and her readers" Chuckster that I'm betting not even his sidekick lonejustice will be willing to step up and try to rescue him.

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Randomizer said...

Did Joe Biden ever have anything more than soft support? In the primary, Bernie Sanders had passionate support by many, but wasn't supported by the party. The other candidates were all weak tea.

RFK Jr has some accomplishments and seems to think for himself. If we could have a referendum to replace Biden with him right now, it would pass.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Hey! This could end up being fun! Biden and Kennedy can have an 'Irish-Off' to see who's the most worthy of being a son of Erin. Tater eating, Guinness guzzling, car bomb making, the whole nine yards.

Obama can be the judge; remember, he's Irish too!

Rusty said...

Chuck said...
"Breitbart.

Are you freaking kidding me?"
This from the guy who uses the Bulwark as his go to source.
And as always Chuck, you lying f*ck.
Piss right off.

Dude1394 said...

Not only is the country on the “wrong track” it has become a destabilizing element in the world. Decades of destabilizing the Middle East, pushing Russia into defending itself against nato intrusion, using the petrodollar as a weapon, destabilizing it.

This country is no longer the good guys. In face the west in general have become fascist and are targeting their own people corruptly. And it has accelerated under democrat rule.

Drago said...

Meade: "Joe Biden could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and rape a transgender child and not lose any voters."

LLR-democratical and Violent Homosexual Rage Rape Fantasist Chuck: "All things considered, that’s a comment that qualifies as “perverse.” Good luck with blogging this week’s rape trial."

It is impossible not to notice that LLR-democratical Chuck's triggered reaction to Meade's quite tame and funny comment comes on the heels of LLR-democratical Chuck coming out in explicit favor of full republican surrender to the democraticals on the entire radical/maoist transgender agenda just last week, which surprised no one of course since Chuck was just piggy-backing onto the "muh principles" "True Conservative" Usual Suspects that were all advancing "The Conservative Case For Giving The Radical Transgenders Everything They Asked For" talking points.

Just a bit more context that helps describe just what is going on here.

Rusty said...

An Althousian poster named Chuck
Who is a despicable f*ck
He'd rant and he'd rave
From his mom's basement cave.
But with him
We are permanently stuck

Rusty said...

ian or ean?

AMDG said...

The problem with the premise is that RFK Jr. is the Teddy of 1980. While Teddy was a degenerate he was still a prominent politician. On the other hand, RFK Jr. is a crank.

Leland said...

Just about everyone running for President in an untraditional manner is “taking in the Uniparty” that prefers sacred traditions. I just don’t buy the notion that a 3rd generational member of a well known political family that has always been a part of the party is outside the party. It doesn’t help that he’s running on the same message of Unity that the last two Democrat Presidents used. How is that Unity coming along?

cassandra lite said...

Unlike his uncle, Jr. would be able to answer Roger Mudd's question about why he wants to be president.

Unlike his uncle, Jr. wants state AG's to "revoke the charters" of corporations like Exxon and Koch Industries that traffic in "The Big Lie" (i.e. "climate denial"), as well as the foundations and think tanks, like Cato and Heritage, that receive funding from those corps.

That's not the mindset I want in a president. (On the other hand, unlike Biden, Jr. does have a mindset.)

Unlike 1980's malaise, the center in 2023 is not holding. That's a big difference.

gahrie said...

The only person threatened by RFKjr is Gavin Newsome.

gahrie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anthony said...

And another poll found that 56 percent of Americans have doubts about Biden’s 'fitness' for his job.

Who the heck are these other 44%? They're either lying or dumb as rocks.

gahrie said...

Blogger Meade said...
Joe Biden could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and rape a transgender child and not lose any voters.


All things considered, that’s a comment that qualifies as “perverse.”


The really perverse thing is that Meade's comment is true.

rcocean said...

Jim Pinkerton is still alive? I thought his brand of stammering, bland, milquetoast conservatism went out with George Bush.

Yancey Ward said...

Primary challenges to an incumbent President are not a cause of anything. They are a symptom of political weakness. Had Ted Kennedy, for example, died in December 1979, Carter still would have lost that next November. Had Ted Kennedy not run at all, someone else would have taken up the opportunity to unseat Carter from the Democratic ticket.

The same applies to Pat Buchanan's run in 1992- by the Fall of 1991, it was clear that George Bush was politically weakened on the right- this weakness is part of why Ross Perot got any traction at all a year later.

I still expect a higher profile Democrat will decide to challenge Biden by next Winter, and my money is on Gavin Gruesome still. I suspect Robert Kennedy Jr. will find himself shut off from donor money at all levels- that payment system companies will starve his campaign of even small donor money by hook or by crook.

wendybar said...

All things considered, that’s a comment that qualifies as “perverse.” Good luck with blogging this week’s rape trial.

4/24/23, 8:17 AM
Tara Reade is finally getting her day in court??

Michael K said...

RFK Jr was a nut not so long ago but I look on him as throwing sand in the gears of the corrupt machine running the country and stealing elections. More power to you elbow, Bobby !

dbp said...

"Meade said...
Joe Biden could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and rape a transgender child and not lose any voters."

This is exactly right and not because they wouldn't care. Biden's supporters have trained themselves to tune-out. It's a coping mechanism. In the last election, they would all be super informed in all of Walker's supposed mental defects, yet blissfully unaware of anyone called Fetterman.

ga6 said...

"Principled leftists " lose to money and greed every time. And foolish Libertarians aid in these losses.

Original Mike said...

"Who the heck are these other 44%? They're either lying or dumb as rocks."

Let's ask Chuck.

Drago said...

AMDG: "The problem with the premise is that RFK Jr. is the Teddy of 1980. While Teddy was a degenerate he was still a prominent politician. On the other hand, RFK Jr. is a crank."

RFK Jr may be a crank but he is quite correct on about 35% of his positions which overlap with conservative populist positions on forever wars, the corruption of the government, Fauci's and the medical establishment's corrupted practicies, the dangers of the deep state, etc.

On those overlap positions, notice should be taken.

Static Ping said...

It is true that having such low approval and being primaried are not good signs for Biden. The problem is if Trump is the Republican nominee, essentially we end up with two men running for re-election, neither of which has particularly good approval ratings.

The thing is I am not sure if any of this matters anymore. Twenty years ago, someone who refused to campaign and was obviously suffering from significant mental decline would have been weeded out early in the primaries, assuming he survived politically until Iowa. Twenty years ago, we wouldn't have a party explicitly supporting a mass murderer because the person is part of one of their approved groups while demanding grandmas be held in isolation because they trespassed. Twenty years ago, the media actually pretended to care what the truth was, instead of explicitly pushing narratives, some of which are obviously false. The polls are basically useless. The government is corrupted. Overt voting irregularities are now embraced as normal. We have gone insane.

BarrySanders20 said...

Buchannan was not Bush I's downfall. The "giant sucking sound" with the buzz cut Perot was his downfall.

Yancey Ward said...

Chuck,

Face reality- Meade got Althouse and you didn't.

Drago said...

Yancey Ward: "Chuck,

Face reality- Meade got Althouse and you didn't."

Yancey, my guess is LLR-democratical and Violent Homosexual Rage Rape Fantasist Chuck isn't all that interested in mature women........

Drago said...

BarrySanders20: "Buchannan was not Bush I's downfall. The "giant sucking sound" with the buzz cut Perot was his downfall."

Fact Check: Absolutely True. But only 100% Absolutely True.

Rocco said...

"Biden has the backing of just 67 percent of those who voted for him..."

Do they have a breakout between the living voters and the dead ones?

Real American said...

BIDEN = CARTER
TRUMP = NIXON
RFKJR = TEDDY KENNEDY
DESANTIS = REAGAN?

it's not a perfect analogy, but it's close.

Yancey Ward said...

Rocco asked:

"Do they have a breakout between the living voters and the dead ones?"

Yes, they do- the dead voters are 115% behind Biden.

Tina Trent said...

Fuc* 'em one, fuc* 'em all."

That's what JFK and Kennedy did.

Their records are better -- for some and worse for some.


They destroyed decent nationalism and played that they didn't.

lhf said...

Conservatives need to be careful here. Kennedy is a climate alarmist who has said that climate change is a public health crisis (who controls the public health sector and its tyrannical machinery?) and that he wished there were laws available to punish “climate deniers.” In addition, he is a standard issue leftist. Our problem today is not corporations, it is government. Corporations can be incentivized and/or forced to comply with government mandates and that is what is happening now. He doesn’t talk about millionaires and billionaires like Bernie Sanders, but the message is the same.

And what are his views on social issues, foreign policy, and education?

Iman said...

“Tater eating, Guinness guzzling, car bomb making, the whole nine yards.”

You forgot baby raping, priest humper…