Below is a statement
by IndependentVoting.org President JacquelineSalit following the announcement by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of his
intention to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent for President
in 2024.
Salit:
Mr. Kennedy is
sounding many of the themes that the independent movement and independent
voters have been speaking of for decades - most notably the unchecked power of
the Democratic and Republican Parties. He says he is calling forth a movement
to challenge that power around his independent candidacy. The whiplash from
both parties will be extreme and the media on both sides will echo and amplify
the denunciations. Their aim is to shut down any public discussion of an
independent option. Whatever individual Americans decide about his positions on
vaccines, fossil fuels and the war in Ukraine, he deserves a level playing
field and an opportunity to make his case. So does Dr. Cornel West. And so do
the candidates of other independent parties.
With nearly half the
country identifying themselves as independents, we can no longer impose a
quarantine on these voices.
