Opinion: Biden and Trump know Kennedy’s VP choice is a game changer

There is nothing remotely normal or conventional about this presidential election. Alice in Wonderland would feel right at home bouncing about between the fantastical issues plaguing the Biden and Trump campaigns.

For the current president, voters worry about Biden’s age, perceived cognitive issues, his son Hunter’s legal and perception problems, growing policy failures, and a country and world going more sideways by the day. For the previous president, it’s hard for some voters to unsee the FBI raid on Trump’s home in Florida, his mug shot, multiple indictments by Democratic prosecutors and district attorneys, trial dates and the greater “lawfare” campaign being purposefully amplified by some in the media.

With that as background, it is no surprise that approximately 70 percent of voters indicate they do not want Biden or Trump as their next president. Enter — stage middle — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

RFK Jr. has a higher favorability rating than both Biden and Trump. He is also the favorite of voters under 35 years old, as well as independents, and is gaining rapidly among minorities — three constituencies that Kennedy now has a chance to grow substantially thanks to his selection yesterday of Nicole Shanahan as his running mate.

The 38-year-old Shanahan has a remarkable life story. She grew up on welfare, is Asian American, a lawyer, the California-based founder and president of Bia-Echo Foundation — a nonprofit that issues grants for issues including reproductive rights, equality, criminal justice reform and the environment — is a single mother to a daughter with autism and is the former wife of Google cofounder Sergey Brin.

Aside from her entrepreneurial background, high energy and intelligence, Shanahan immediately amplifies or outright fills multiple needs of the Kennedy campaign. She can speak directly to female voters, the high-tech community, young voters, minority voters, the working poor, the disenfranchised — and dissatisfied Democrats.

Shanahan also immediately checks another critical box for Kennedy: Multiple states require an announced vice-presidential running mate to get on the ballot. With Shanahan now on the ticket, it will create both media attention and increased momentum within those states.

As detailed in a previous column , the Democrats now seem to be in a full-blown meltdown regarding Kennedy’s independent run. Not only has it not fizzled out, as many of them predicted, but it appears to be settling down upon a solid foundation of populism. A foundation Shanahan can expand widely.

Job one for Kennedy and Shanahan is to get on state ballots. The campaign is making great progress but is also running into obstacles it believes are being deliberately thrown in its path by the Democratic Party.

Shanahan is going to be a force of nature when it comes to Kennedy’s campaign getting the needed ballot access. Shanahan — as she spoke to in her remarks — is very wealthy. More than that, she has extremely close connections to the mega-donor class.

As such, it can be assumed that the Biden and Trump teams are most fearful of this statement Shanahan made in speech yesterday: “Please, listen to Bobby Kennedy in his own words. Take a close look at his vision for America. It is a vision that I share too as I back his campaign and focus the next seven months of my life getting him on each and every ballot in this country.”

Kennedy recently addressed this challenge in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “The will of the people is being thwarted by corruption and cronyism from Secretary Mayorkas, the Biden administration, and the politicization of our federal agencies. They want me out of this race by any means necessary and are refusing me Secret Service protection in a calculated effort to drain my campaign funds, exclude me from the ballot, and stop the movement that we’ve been building.”

Shanahan can now stop and reverse that “calculated effort to drain” the Kennedy campaign of funds. And then some.

In political campaigns, perception often equals reality, which then equals momentum. Shanahan is now changing the perception because of her real-world experience.

The line between “long shot” and “the people’s choice” is much narrower than many believe. It often comes down to reaching a tipping point. In but a few weeks, the conversation can instantly switch from “Kennedy can’t possibly win” to “I can’t believe it, but Kennedy now has a real shot.” Shanahan can very quickly help flip that conversation to Kennedy’s favor.

One of the many reasons is this statement from her remarks yesterday: “I come to you today as a former Democrat. I come to you as a woman not quite 40. I come to you as someone who has experienced sickness and health and poverty and wealth. And finally, I come to you as a mother … Initially, it was as a mother that I came to support this campaign … I joined the many, many groups of mothers who support this candidacy. They are Republicans and Democrats and independents … If you ask me who my heroes are, that’s who, it’s the moms trying to make a normal life for their children in a world that has gone crazy.”

Americans are going to rally to her voice. Nicole Shanahan is a game-changer — and Biden and Trump know it.

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

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.