Underrated alternatives to Election 2024

I would sit in my parents’ basement and watch JFK, RFK and MLK annual tributes to their life accomplishments examining the nature of their missions from 1963-1968 before I went to college.  The Kennedy family was ingrained in me.  RFK’s passion to alleviate the poor in Appalachia, the Mississippi Gulf region and intercity New York instilled in me a desire to go beyond one’s station in life to dedicate my life to others.  In 1964, Senator Bobby Kennedy, Senator Javits and Mayor John Lindsay of New York City initiated legislative action to create the Special Impact Program, an extension to the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.  He created a 7 point plan that would be a national model for community development called the Bedford Stuyvesant Renewal and Rehabilitation Corporation, to help finance low income housing and jobs for the poor.  The impact of JFK and RFK’s legacy affected my boomer generation well into the 1980s when Reagan disassociated most moral causes within government and shifted to the church helping the poor.

RFK, Jr launched his independent Presidential Campaign for 2024 on April 19, 2023.  He has written over 8 books in his lifetime including “The Real Anthony Fauci” and “Vax-UnVax: Let the Science Speak.”  Many mainstream political analysts and television pundits immediately discounted his candidacy, especially anti vaccinations for children.  He had an uphill battle of getting an adequate amount of signatures in each state to get on their ballot.  He is currently on the ballot in 13 states including California but he is facing challenges in Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Delaware and New Jersey, including direct lawsuits to keep him off by democratic candidates themselves.  Only 83 electoral college votes are currently accessible to RFK, Jr. 

He possesses the same determination as his father.  He was at the Ambassador Hotel when his father was shot.  He was 15 years old.  He is now 70 years old and has had a lifetime of accomplishment in environmental law including cleaning up the Hudson River in New York after suing Mobil.  He had a major victory cleaning up zinc mines in West Virginia while suing Dupont.  He joined Riverkeepers and Natural Resources Defense Council. He won Times magazine title “Hero of the Planet.”  The New York Times states in 2023 he has received over 7 million just for lending his name and expertise to environmental firms and causes.  He made $500,000 working as the top lawyer for non-profit Children’s Defense Fund, protecting U.S. kids from further vaccinations.  He earned three times the pay a normal CEO or top contributor would earn.

Americans and the media have underscored the major environmental influence and political appeal he has to disenfranchised voters.  He has 14% of committed Democratic voters nationwide, just under 15% which would have allowed him to debate on stage..  Mainstream democrats  refuse to look past the Biden-Harris ticket, fearing any vote sacrificed would be a vote for Trump.  RFK Jr. has described himself as a Catholic, who overcame his drug addiction by reading up on modern psychologists who helped him think differently with new eyes.  By self describing him as a “classical liberal,” anyone born after 1980 would not understand that term of having empathy for the poor.  He has to upgrade some of his labels to modern thinking.  I did not think voting for another Kennedy since Ted Kennedy in 1980 primary would be possible in my lifetime.  For undecided voters, it’s good to look into alternative candidates you may identify with when frustrated with the two major parties.  RFK Jr. is intending to reshape the Kennedy legacy.