RFK Jr. and Ramaswamy moving up quickly in the outside lanes

There’s an interesting development heading into the 2024 presidential election. Two outsiders rejected or ignored by entrenched establishments in both political parties, as well as much of the mainstream media, are connecting with real voters in a way very real: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for the Democratic side and Vivek Ramaswamy for the Democratic side. republican

As for why they are outsiders, let’s start with Kennedy. Much of the reason the entrenched establishment can’t stand him, while millions of Americans flock to his vision for our nation, was encapsulated during a town hall style interview hosted by Fox News host Sean Hannity this week.

During the town hall, which was often interrupted by applause from the hundreds in attendance, Kennedy said: “We have a system of comfortable socialism for the super-rich and this brutal, savage, ruthless capitalism for the poor. And it’s all designed to strip the middle class of this country of all their wealth, all their assets and move them to the highest levels. And the covid lockdowns were the final straw. Under the covid lockdowns, we created a billionaire a day and that was trump and biden 500 days of lockdown we created a billionaire a day we moved $4 trillion from the middle class to the super rich people who went into lockdown with a billion of dollars increased their wealth by an average of 30%. We closed 3.3 million deals.”

Impartial observers can see why much of the establishment wants to silence him, while millions of American voters believe they have found their champion for 2024. That said, one of the biggest problems for Kennedy is that big some of the mainstream media are part of this entrenched establishment. .

One of the reasons Democrat Kennedy has made so many appearances on Fox News is that much of the media refuses to have him on their airways. Many journalists, who are supposed to be unbiased and professional, refuse to listen to or even discuss a point of view of the main challenger to the President Joe Biden.

Are some of the mainstream media now morphing into the Biden campaign’s policy and communications staff? Or, at least, the opposition to Kennedy?

All of this brings us back to the voters. The latest Harvard-Harris poll He puts Kennedy first in favorability: at 47% he is ahead of Biden, Trump, DeSantis and all the other candidates. His unfavorability is the lowest among all the candidates, at only 26 percent. This survey was done after the recent one “Covid-anti-Semitic” narrative. pushed by many in the media and the Democratic Party in the previous 10 days.

Clearly, when voters hear Kennedy, it’s connecting. His challenge is to find ways to amplify his voice.

Next we come to Vivek Ramaswamy, who launched his bid for the Republican nomination in February. The billionaire biotech entrepreneur is 37 years old and has never spent a day in government. He wants to change all that by taking the top job in the entire government.

As with Kennedy, while many in the Republican establishment ignore or even mock Ramaswamy and his campaign, voters seem to be interested in him and his positions.

A number of national surveys recently they have shown that Ramaswamy is increasing. Suddenly, she’s gone from a complete unknown to third in the polls, behind only Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.).

Why is it rising so fast? While there are multiple reasons, three stand out. First, he has condensed his campaign for the White House into a simple message that resonates with voters: “Excellence over Victimhood. Democracy over aristocracy. America over China. Diversity of thought over appearance. The truth about relativism. Equal opportunity versus equal outcome.”

The second is that as a Republican candidate of color, his life story is also touching and identifying with those who listen. Born to Indian immigrant parents, Ramaswamy graduated from Harvard with a degree in biology before going to Yale Law School to earn his Ph.D.

Third, unlike RFK Jr.’s unethical black ball. by many in the mainstream media, Ramaswamy has mostly been welcomed with open arms and has taken advantage of virtually every opportunity to be on television. This strategy is paying off as slowly more voters not only get to know him but listen to his vision for the nation.

Although he’s rising in the polls and easily qualified for the first GOP debate in August, some rival campaigns are refusing to give him the respect he’s earned. As per NBC News reportedanother campaign operative said condescendingly: “He’s not a real candidate. His campaign is built on Twitter. He’s always everything to everybody. We don’t really think about him. And we’re never going to engage with him “.

I have little doubt that, like an opposing Super Bowl team that has just been demolished by the competition, the Ramaswamy campaign already has that quote on a bulletin board.

The entrenched establishment and mainstream media can fire RFK Jr. and Ramaswamy all they want, but voters can decide that foreigners are in 2024.

Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a White House staff writer for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, and a former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.