On the Ballot
This past Saturday, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., held a rally in Des Moines…technically, it was called a convention to take advantage of a unique provision of Iowa law.
Iowa law allows an individual running for president to be placed on our general election ballot if at least 500 eligible voters from Iowa attend an assembly and sign a form affirming they were present at the event. So Team Kennedy rented the recently-restored, historic Val Air Ballroom for the event.
Around 1,000 people showed up, and of those, more than 650 signed off…meaning Kennedy has made it on the ballot due to that “convention” with enough voters signing the form to spare in case of challenges or false statements.
According to the campaign, petitioning to be on the ballot is complete in Iowa, Nebraska, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, North Carolina, Hawaii, and New Hampshire—8 states. Petition gathering is underway in 33 states, while the window for getting on the ballot is not yet open in the remaining 10 states and the District of Columbia.
That all was overshadowed by Kennedy’s claim yesterday that he met with Donald Trump, at the Trump team’s invitation, to discuss Kennedy joining the Trump ticket as vice president, creating a “unity” ticket not unlike Republican Abraham Lincoln and Democrat Andrew Johnson during the Civil War in 1865. Kennedy said he turned down the invitation, and now says he’s against Trump but thinks Biden cannot win…so his effort to get on state ballots nationwide continues.
Just one more bit of news from what is supposed to be a down time in presidential politics, once the major party nominations are locked up. And just one more example of how 2024 will quite likely be like no other year politically.
