{"id":579406,"date":"2023-06-20T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/democrats-divided-on-whether-to-attack-or-ignore\/"},"modified":"2023-06-20T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T10:00:00","slug":"democrats-divided-on-whether-to-attack-or-ignore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/democrats-divided-on-whether-to-attack-or-ignore\/","title":{"rendered":"#Democrats divided on whether to attack or ignore"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/KennedyRobertRFK_051419_AP_Hans-Pennink.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The surprising early strength of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s\u00a0presidential campaign is sparking unease among Democrats \u2014 and leaving them divided about what to do about it.<\/p>\n<p>Kennedy has drawn support between <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roximately 15 percent\u00a0to 20 percent in recent polls of Democratic voters.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>It\u2019s a level that is not high enough to indicate he is seriously endangering President Biden\u2019s march to his party\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n<p>But, for a candidate often derided as an anti-vaccine crank who is running against an incumbent president, it is enough to make some Democrats sweat.<\/p>\n<p>Party strategists cleave into two camps on the question of how Biden and his campaign should respond.<\/p>\n<p>One faction argues that Biden should ignore Kennedy. Engaging him would only legitimize and elevate his candidacy, they say.<\/p>\n<p>The other school of thought holds that Kennedy is too dangerous a figure to\u00a0let campaign unimpeded. This second camp notes that, even if Kennedy never looks like a fully serious contender for the nomination, he could hurt Biden if he continues edging up in the polls.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In a hypothetical scenario where Kennedy rose to 25 percent\u00a0or 30 percent in the polls, questions about Biden\u2019s age and political vulnerability would grow much sharper.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Bill Carrick, a veteran Democratic strategist, urged the Biden campaign to take the high road and treat Kennedy as if he barely exists.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they should ignore him. I just don\u2019t think there\u2019s any point in [engaging] in it. He\u2019s not the least bit of a threat to President Biden,\u201d Carrick said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor card-carrying Democrats, their biggest concern is beating Trump, and the only way to do it is Biden,\u201d Carrick added.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>But others warn that there are dangers in that approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t let cancers metastasize,\u201d said Bakari Sellers, a CNN commentator and former Democratic state representative in South Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>Sellers was scathing of Kennedy, whom he called a \u201ccaricature.\u201d Referring to his storied family history as the nephew of\u00a0former\u00a0President Kennedy and the son of the former attorney <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> whose name he bears, Sellers added:<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cHe is probably the best example of an apple falling from the tree and rolling into a whole other orchard \u2014 parroting Putin talking points and so on. He is not John, he is not Robert, and he is more associated with the likes of [podcaster] Joe Rogan and Elon Musk than he is with James Clyburn or Hakeem Jeffries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Kennedy\u2019s willingness to engage with figures like Rogan has its own political advantages. <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social media<\/a> lit up in the wake of Kennedy\u2019s recent appearance on Rogan\u2019s podcast. Rogan offered scientist Peter Hotez a charity donation of $100,000 if he would debate Kennedy on the vaccine question.<\/p>\n<p>Hotez has so far declined. The back-and-forth has raised bigger questions about the merits of such public debates, especially between a respected scientist and someone who has frequently been criticized for trafficking in misinformation.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Either way, the furor delivers even more oxygen to Kennedy\u2019s campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This, in turn, is why some Democrats think ignoring him is not a workable strategy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have to get in behind the scenes and take him apart,\u201d said New York-based Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Sheinkopf argued that a frontal attack on Kennedy from the Biden campaign would backfire since \u201cit would fuel him and fuel his followers who are drawn to his populist streak.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Attacks from groups that are not directly affiliated with Biden might be more effective, Sheinkopf contended.<\/p>\n<p>There is an abundance of ammunition that could be used against Kennedy, his critics note. In an early 2022 rally against vaccinations, Kennedy suggested the situation in the United States at the time was worse than when the Nazis were on the march in Europe \u2014 remarks that even his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, called \u201creprehensible and insensitive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Kennedy later apologized for referencing Anne Frank in the remarks.<\/p>\n<p>In another interview, Kennedy claimed that chemicals in drinking water were feminizing boys and causing \u201csexual dysphoria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A photo was widely disseminated on Twitter on Monday of Kennedy with Roger Stone and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, two of the most controversial of all the allies of former President Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The implication, plainly, was that Kennedy was being used by the right, willingly or otherwise, to hurt Biden.<\/p>\n<p>Stone, in a Monday afternoon tweet, denied that was the case.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The photo, he wrote, \u201cproves nothing whatsoever. I have met [Kennedy] once in my life at a conference. I did not urge him to run, nor am I advising his campaign. This is a crazy left-wing conspiracy theory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite that, some Democrats cited the photo as the kind of ingredient that would prove useful in pushing back against a Kennedy candidacy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll you\u2019ve got to do is let people know: These are his friends,\u201d Democratic strategist Jerry Austin told this column.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The concern about Kennedy\u2019s candidacy and its political impact stretches beyond Democrats to others who are worried about the possibility of Trump returning to office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe can soften, weaken and damage Biden for a general election,\u201d said former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), who has become a fierce Trump critic.<\/p>\n<p>But Walsh argued that, although there was an appetite on the left as well as the right for what he termed \u201ccranks and conspiracy theories,\u201d such a figure was less likely to come close to winning the Democratic nomination.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the danger Kennedy\u2019s poses, Walsh argued, \u201cTeam Biden is better advised to just ignore him completely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/4057468-democrats-divided-biden-rfk-jr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The surprising early strength of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s\u00a0presidential campaign is sparking unease among Democrats \u2014 and leaving them divided about what to do about it. Kennedy has drawn support between approximately 15 percent\u00a0to 20 percent in recent polls of Democratic voters.\u00a0 It\u2019s a level that is not high enough to indicate he is seriously&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":579407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/KennedyRobertRFK_051419_AP_Hans-Pennink.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[134353,4941,991,134614,134351,115,4947,4965],"class_list":["post-579406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-court-battles","tag-donald-trump","tag-joe-biden","tag-judiciary","tag-morning-report","tag-news","tag-opinion","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}