In my History of Third Party Candidates paper, I wrote about the history of third party candidates in the presidential election and how this information alters or changes my perspective of Robert F. Kennedy jr. running as an independent candidate in the 2024 presidential election. Before I did my research on this subject, I was a little confused why Kennedy was even attempting to run in the election knowing that he likely wouldn’t receive enough votes compared to his competitors, current President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. But after I researched the topic, I realized that for independent candidates, it’s sometimes not about winning the election but instead gaining a following and taking votes away from competitors to spoil the election. Also, through running in the election, third party candidates can express their ideas and policies that sometimes can influence the way America views these ideas in the future. So I began my research by using the library guide provided at Westminster to access tier one and other credible sources and databases. I found two tier one sources, Jstor and Britannica through this library guide which were my two most crucial sources for research. Through these sources, I gained a strong background knowledge of the history of third party candidates and a lot of information about Robert F. Kennedy’s background and his motivation to run for president as an independent candidate. Following this, I then did a google search about my topic. There was lots of information out there and I was very strategic about finding websites and sources that were known for having credible, unbiased opinions. I found an article posted on Slate News and Politics that covered lots of important third party candidates in the history of the presidential election. After doing research about the credibility of Slate, I found that Slate has a slightly left wing bias for its current news but provides strong, credible historic reports. So, I deemed this source a reliable tier two source. Next, I researched how Robert F. Kennedy is portrayed in the media and what his popularity is. Due to Kennedy having more support from Republicans although he once ran as a democrat and his family’s democratic background, I have to stay alert for politically biased websites. Due to this, I mostly stayed away from the internet and relied on Britannica for most of my information about Kennedy to ensure that it was bias free. My last source was a website that generally provided an overview of Kennedy’s popularity and what percent of the votes he is predicted to receive. Since this was a less known website, I did a lot of cross referencing to the information provided and eventually deemed this a reliable source. In conclusion, since I was researching a topic revolving around a current presidential candidate, I had to be very intentional and careful about where my information came from and what websites I used to gather information. In today’s world more than ever, we have to be very cognizant of biased information especially when researching about a current political figure. 

Abramson, Paul R., John H. Aldrich, Phil Paolino, and David W. Rohde. “Third-Party     and  Independent Candidates in American Politics: Wallace, Anderson, and Perot.” Political Science Quarterly 110, no. 3 (1995): 349–67. https://doi.org/10.2307/2152568.

Britannica School, s.v. “Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,” accessed May 17, 2024,       https://school-eb-com.westminster.idm.oclc.org/levels/high/article/Robert-F-Kennedy-Jr/639108

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History of Third Party Candidates

Have you ever wondered about why there has not been a Third Party President in recent history, or even since 1856 when the Republican Party became the second major political party. While there have been many notable runs in presidential elections from thirty party candidates such George C. Wallace, John B. Anderson, and Ross Perot, Wallace in 1968 was the last candidate to receive any electoral votes and win a state as an independent candidate. The voting and campaign structure in the Presidential election strongly stacks the odds against third party candidates for many reasons such as high costs, struggles for ballot access, the strategic voting theory, and the plurality voting system. In this year’s 2024 Presidential election, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is running as an Independent Candidate. While he likely will not win the election, he is receiving enough votes to spoil the election and cause an impact on the outcome between President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump. As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to gain publicity and support across the country, how will his presence in this year’s election impact the overall outcome?

https://www.wfit.org/politics-government/2023-10-09/rfk-jr-says-hes-running-for-president-as-an-independent

While Third party candidates from  Libertarian, Green or independent rarely win electoral votes, they very much influence swing states and can take voters away from Democratic and Republican parties. Looking into the history of third party candidates, first off, George C. Wallace, who ran as an independent candidate in the 1968 election. His whole goal was to get enough votes to send the election results to the House of Representatives. While he ended up third in electoral votes, he received five states and 13.5 percent of the popular votes which definitely had an impact on the final outcome of Richard Nixon ultimately winning. Next, Ross Perot who ran in the 1992 presidential election as an independent candidate. While Perot ran alongside two historic politicians George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, he received around 19 percent of the popular vote and is viewed as one of the most successful independent candidates of all times. Perot also brought on strong policies revolving around federal deficit and debt that influenced the way we look at this topic today. Finally, John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent candidate in the 1980 presidential election was a strong Republican candidate that at the last minute changed to independent. Anderson, who also ran alongside historic politicians Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, started off very strong but his change in public opinion over topics revolving around supporting abortion and involvement with the oil crisis lost him lots of voters. While all three of these politicians fell short in the elections, their presence in the elections spoiled lots of electoral votes for major parties and brought on lots of new ideas and policies which had a major impact on society. It is clear that while we may never see another third party present, their involvement in the voting and election process definitely has had a major importance.

Looking into the 2024 presidential election, while it is extremely unlikely that Robert F. Kennedy jr. wins the presidential election, it is now clear that his involvement can be very important and possibly spoil the result between Current President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump. He said this himself in a rally; “My intention is to spoil it for both of them.” Leading up to Kennedy’s decision to change from a democratic candidate to an independent, Kennedy was criticized by democrats for his comments about the vaccine, where he was labeled an anti-vaxxer. While Kennedy denied this and clarified his intention of advocating for vaccine safety, he lost a lot of democratic support. In hopes to regain support, he claimed that his beliefs relate strongly to the rest of the democratic Kennedy family beliefs such as healthcare reform, strong middle class and racial justice. So, while Kennedy brings a slightly different side of Democratic beliefs to his independent campaign, he has support from both parties and roughly carries around 10-16 percent of the voters’ popularity. 

https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/whos-voting-robert-kennedy-jr

While it is clear that Robert F. Kennedy likely won’t win the election, he brings lots of important ideas and policies that have the potential to possibly spoil the 2024 presidential election. As seen in the history of third party candidates like Kennedy, they can be very influential and can be credited to lots of policies and ideas that we still hold today. So, it is very important that third party candidates have a fair opportunity to run in elections. While they likely won’t win the election, they will bring a whole different view of policies and ideas and can possibly change the course of history through their ability to change outcomes of elections. 

Citations

Abramson, Paul R., John H. Aldrich, Phil Paolino, and David W. Rohde. “Third-Party     and  Independent Candidates in American Politics: Wallace, Anderson, and Perot.” Political Science Quarterly 110, no. 3 (1995): 349–67. https://doi.org/10.2307/2152568.

Britannica School, s.v. “Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,” accessed May 17, 2024,       https://school-eb-com.westminster.idm.oclc.org/levels/high/article/Robert-F-Kennedy-Jr/639108

“Who’s Voting for Robert Kennedy Jr.?” Ipsos. Last modified March 22, 2024.
     Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/
     whos-voting-robert-kennedy-jr.

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