RFK Jr. names Silicon Valley attorney Nicole Shanahan as running mate
Credit: Fox News
You should get ready, Nicole Shanahan. The ex-wife of Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, is unknown to most Americans. Unveiled as Robert Kennedy Jr.’s running mate on Tuesday, Shanahan’s life will completely change. In significant swing states, RFK’s third-party candidacy might split the vote. That means he could be 2024’s Ralph Nader, the Green Party nominee who diverted Al Gore’s endorsement in 2000. George W. Bush emerged victorious. It would be Donald Trump this time. If any negative information about Shanahan is available, Joe Biden’s campaign will actively seek to uncover it.
Given Shanahan’s extreme wealth, there should be little question as to Kennedy’s selection. One significant obstacle to admission is the expense of placing a third-party contender on all 50 state ballots. Shanahan is content to spend the money she received in settlement of her divorce from multibillionaire Brin. She gave $4 million to support RFK’s earlier this year Super Bowl commercial, in which he offended his family by drawing comparisons between himself and his uncle, John F. Kennedy. She will now assist in covering the legal fees and gathering the necessary signatures to place their names on the ballot. The tech lawyer and philanthropist have no prior national exposure or political experience. On Tuesday, RFK Jr. declared, “I’m confident that Nicole Shanahan is the most qualified American to play this role.”
RFK Jr. is getting a little older to be a first-time candidate for politics at 70 years old. Shanahan still has the most of her life ahead of her at 38. The route they are on can have just two possible endings. Either history will remember the Kennedy-Shanahan ticket as the team that helped Trump reclaim the White House, or it will simply become another fanciful chapter in the colorful history of third-party campaigns in America. The latter could make Shanahan’s remaining years more difficult. There was nothing that could have prepared her for what lay ahead of her. She woke up Tuesday morning as a relatively unknown investor in Silicon Valley. She was among the most derided people in America at the end of the day.
According to the Kennedy-Shanahan case, US politics are flawed. There’s not much disagreement about it. Their candidacy may not actually be the solution that America needs. According to polls, Democratic voters would provide RFK Jr. with most of their support. Private surveys confirm this, as evidenced by Timothy Mellon’s $20 million donation to Kennedy. Mellon is a major supporter of Trump. Without a greater goal, you wouldn’t invest that much money in a pointless endeavor. In a three-way contest, polls place RFK Jr. between 2 and 15% of the vote. A close election could be changed by even a lower number. In the year 2000, Nader received 2.7%. The Green Party’s 2016 nominee, Jill Stein, received a meager 1%. However, her total exceeded Trump’s lead over Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin and Michigan.
There is every reason for the Democrats to want to make things as difficult as they can for Kennedy and Shanahan. Kennedy’s past is widely recognized. After serving two years on probation and beating heroin addiction, he went on to become an environmental lawyer. Scandal is nothing new for him. The New York Post obtained his intimate journal in 2013, detailing his 37 encounters with women in 2001 alone. In 2012, Mary Richardson Kennedy, his second wife, committed suicide due to depression. Kennedy’s siblings and other family members frequently criticize his anti-vaccine initiatives. Medical research has refuted the theory he advances, which holds that vaccinations cause autism.
However, a large portion of Americans who are against the pharmaceutical industry find him appealing. A close family member with a chronic illness, such as diabetes, cancer, hypertension, or addiction, affects most Americans. Many people feel deceived by large pharmaceutical corporations. Shanahan pledged on Tuesday that he would resolve chronic illness in “weeks, not years” after assuming office. Pollution is another issue that many Americans face, and it’s both one of Shanahan’s charitable concerns and one of RFK’s topics. If their names appear on the ballot, they will likely garner some votes. Whether the trade-off will be worthwhile is the question.
Two years ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that Shanahan’s affair with Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, SpaceX, and X, led to her divorce from Brin. Shanahan and Musk have refuted it. Since then, Shanahan has been open about her quest for purpose in life. She told People Magazine that “it’s nearly impossible to have mega wealth and be deeply grounded.” Joining forces with RFK Jr. is undoubtedly one way to deal with that.
