The Wire

Democratic Party in Crisis and RFK Jr. Is Ready to Roll – Watch

June 15, 2023

The Democratic Party is facing a major challenge in 2024. President Biden is facing increasing pressure from within his own party to step aside and allow a new generation of leaders to take the helm.

One of the leading contenders to replace Biden is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy Jr. is a popular figure among Democrats, and he has been endorsed by several high-profile figures.

According to Axios, there is controversy over which states will be the first voters in the 2024 Democratic primary. It is leading to an increasingly likely scenario where the sitting president won’t be on the ballot in the first two primary contests.

If Iowa and New Hampshire Democrats dismiss the DNC’s proposed changes to the primary schedule and move forward with voting first, President Joe Biden’s team indicated that the president won’t put his name on the ballots. That move would put RFK Jr. as the leading Democratic candidate and most recognizable name on the two states’ ballots.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) decided in February to make South Carolina the first primary state because President Biden said he wanted the Palmetto State to vote first.

“For decades, black voters in particular have been the backbone of the Democratic Party but have been pushed to the back of the early primary process,” Biden wrote in a letter last December. “We rely on these voters in elections but have not recognized their importance in our nominating calendar. It is time to stop taking these voters for granted, and time to give them a louder and earlier voice in the process.”

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) called the decision process “flawed,” saying that “top party officials had their own agenda from the start.”

RFK Jr. predicted last week that Biden wouldn’t “even put his name in Iowa and New Hampshire.”

“I think that he did not want to compete in New Hampshire and he wants to go to a state where they … can control the results more,” Kennedy told radio host Michael Smerconish.