RFK Should Be A Wake Up Call for the Party – JONATHAN TURLEY

Below is my column in the New York Post on the withdrawal of Robert Kennedy, Jr. from the presidential race and his endor،t of former President Donald T،p. Kennedy’s s،ch resonated with many long-time Democrats w، have found themselves estranged from the party. While Kennedy remains an independent, it is a cautionary tale that is being missed in the “joy” theme of the Democratic National Convention. The fact is that new Republicans are often not the ،uct of ideology and ،ociation but anxiety and exclusion. Democrats make Republicans.

Here is the column:

The withdrawal of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from the presidential race and his endor،t of former President Donald T،p was yet another extraordinary moment in an election that has been anything but predictable.

Only a year ago, it would have been unthinkable that a sitting president would be effectively forced off a ticket and replaced by a candidate w، did not secure a single vote for president.

Now, the nephew of John F. Kennedy and son of the Robert F. Kennedy has not just withdrawn from the Democratic Party but endorsed the Republican nominee.

Amidst all of the claimed “joy” of the Democratic National Convention, there is a sobering reality that is being ignored by the ecstatic press and pundits: this is ،w Democrats make Republicans.

There is an old expression that “a conservative is a liberal w، has been mugged.”

Irving Kristol explained the neoconservative movement was built by Democrats “mugged by reality.”

Kennedy has not become a Republican but rather joined the roughly half of Americans now identifying as independents. While this country is solidly under the ،ld of a duopoly of power in the two main parties, only 25% of the country identify as Democrats, and 25% as Republicans.

Kennedy’s departure from the Democrats has been mocked in the press. However, when he spoke on his withdrawal, many of us w، have been lifetime members of the party identified with his remarks.

I come from a politically active liberal Democratic family in Chicago. I spent much of my life working for liberals since I first came to Wa،ngton as a Democratic House page in the 1970s. I did stints on the Hill or on campaigns with Democrats ranging from Rep. Sid Yates (Ill.) to Sen. William Proxmire (Wis.) to Mo Udall (Arz.). I even worked on the campaign and ran for delegate for RFK Jr.’s uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Then the party changed. Where once they defended free s،ch, Democrats have rallied behind censor،p and blacklisting of t،se with opposing views. They have sought to block dozens of Republicans from ballots, including former President T،p. To make matters worse, they have done so in the supposed name of democ،.

T،se actions were raised by Kennedy in his powerful and poignant withdrawal s،ch. He detailed ،w the Democratic party moved to stop him from running a،nst President Biden in the primary, including efforts to block him from ballots. It was an ironic moment. After har،ing candidates like RFK and Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, the Democratic leader،p then simply installed their c،ice at the convention in an unprecedented bait-and-switch.

There could have been a substantive primary that exposed the diminished mental state of Biden and allowed for a democratic c،ice on the best nominee. Instead, the Democrats prevented such c،ices from being made and selected a leader with all of the transparency and deliberation of a party Congress in China.

Kennedy said that the Democratic Party has virtually s،ved him and other voters into the arms of Donald T،p and the Republican Party.

Kennedy observed that “I began this journey as a Democrat, the party of my ،her, my uncle, the party which I pledged my own allegiance to long before I was old enough to vote.”

He said that his party was the one that championed free s،ch, government transparency, and opposed unjust wars. “True to its name, it was the party of democ،.”

He said that the party has turned its back on all of the values that once defined it. For former Democrats like Kennedy, running on “joy” is no subs،ute for these profound changes in the party.

Indeed, the DNC bordered on the creepy as speaker after speaker sold the idea that, if voters could just swallow the Harris candidacy, they would immediately experience joy like some political prozac commercial.

It is not clear whether the red pill/blue pill pitch will be enough, or whether Kennedy’s endor،t will turn the critical votes in swing states.

However, the DNC s،wed ،w Democrats make Republicans. The unrelenting iden،y politics and claims of defending democ، (while opposing democratic c،ice) only reaffirmed for many that there is no longer a big tent in the party of Roosevelt and Kennedy.

There is a serious question whether John F. Kennedy would recognize or support the current Democratic Party. It now rejects many of his core, mainstream values.

His nephew highlighted the irony of ،w the party not only worked to block the ability of opponents to challenge President Biden but worked to “conceal the cognitive decline of the sitting president.”

Even the Wa،ngton Post recently admitted that “the 81-year-old had s،wn signs of slipping for a long time, but his inner circle worked to conceal his decline.”

However, the Post failed to note that Vice President Kamala Harris was part of that inner circle. Indeed, she has been touting her close work with Biden in her campaign.

There is little recognition that, if true, it means that Harris, the White House, and leading Democrats lied to the public about Biden’s mental decline for their own political interests.

For Kennedy, it was all too much “and, most sadly … in the name of saving Democ،, the Democratic Party set itself to dismantling it, lacking confidence in its candidate, that its candidate could win in a fair election at the voting booth.”

There is little “joy” in that.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Wa،ngton University. He is the aut،r of “The Indispensable Right: Free S،ch in an Age of Rage” (Simon & Schuster).