Why Cornel West’s candidacy could hand the White House to the GOP
Elizabeth Stauffer
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Far-left activist Cornel West announced his decision to run for president as a candidate for the People’s Party on Monday in a Twitter video. West, 70, is a former Harvard University public philosophy professor and a professor emeritus at Princeton University.
As crazy as a West candidacy may seem at first glance, it could actually have a profound impact on the outcome of the election.
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As a jaunty little tune played in the background, West said, “In these bleak times, I have decided to run for truth and justice, which takes the form of running for president of the United States as a candidate for the People’s Party. I enter in the quest for truth. I enter in the quest for justice. And the presidency is just one vehicle to pursue that truth and justice.”
Kellyanne Conway, who served as a senior counselor to former President Donald Trump, told Fox News on Tuesday that West’s candidacy could affect the race just as Ross Perot’s candidacy cost President George H.W. Bush a second term in 1992.
Conway pointed out, “Even if you don’t become president, you, as a third-party candidate spoiler can decide who is the president.” She noted that Bill Clinton got elected with just 43.5% of the vote. “Why? Because Ross Perot got 19% of the popular vote, even though he didn’t rack up any electoral votes.”
She explained, “If you play to win and you are Cornel West, and you are still not satisfied with the trajectory of the Democratic Party being progressive enough for you under a Biden/Harris administration, then you’re going to run to the left of them. Number one.”
“Number two, he’s going to make a play for people who feel forgotten, who feel abandoned by the Democratic Party and feel like nobody is listening to them and including them. It’s part of how Trump won in 2016, but I think he [West] can do it from the Left,” Conway added.
Conway also cited the 1980 primary battle between then-President Jimmy Carter and challenger Sen. Ted Kennedy, noting that “Carter came out of that very damaged and, as an incumbent president, lost to Ronald Reagan.”
Few would argue that West could garner anywhere near 19% of the vote, as Perot did in 1992, or win 12 state primaries, as Kennedy did in 1980. But the 2016 election shows that far smaller shares of the vote can sway the outcome.
In the 2016 presidential election, for example, nearly 6% of the popular vote went to third-party candidates. Some analysts go so far as to say this handed the presidency to Trump. In Pennsylvania, third-party candidates won 4% of the vote. In Michigan and Wisconsin, they won 6%. Considering the margin of victory in each of these battleground states was under a point, these candidates made a difference.
(Third-party candidates played less of a role in the 2020 election, winning only 2% of the vote nationally).
In addition, the well-funded, centrist political group “No Labels” could also become a force in the 2024 election. Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, is the group’s national co-chairman. According to the New York Times, No Labels is planning to field a “unity ticket,” and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) tops the list of potential candidates.
A Manchin candidacy would pose an even greater threat to Biden’s reelection bid than the progressive Cornel West because he would likely appeal to a larger slice of the electorate.
And then, of course, there’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the 69-year-old scion of one of America’s most famous political families.
Most pundits are quick to say he has no chance of winning the nomination. They believe that his prominence in the COVID vaccine resistance movement and other so-called conspiracy theories precludes voters from taking his candidacy seriously. In fact, last year, the Washington Post dubbed Kennedy the “prince of disinformation in the anti-vaccination kingdom.”
But, despite the naysayers, he landed a significant endorsement on Sunday. Attaching video from Kennedy’s recent interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner, during which he argued he could defeat both former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a general election, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeted: “He can and will.”
Asked by one Twitter user if he was “endorsing or just predicting,” Dorsey replied, “Both.”
Dorsey considers Biden too old to run in 2024. And following Biden’s widely watched fall at the Air Force Academy graduation last Thursday, Dorsey called for Democrats to open the Democratic primary and to hold debates.
Can anyone imagine how a debate between RFK Jr. and Biden would go? For that matter, can anyone imagine how a debate between any candidate and Biden would go?
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All things considered, Biden’s second term is looking less inevitable by the day.
Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner, Power Line, the Western Journal, and AFNN and is a past contributor to RedState, Newsmax, and Bongino.com. Her articles have appeared on many sites, including RealClearPolitics, MSN, and the Federalist. Please follow Elizabeth on Twitter or LinkedIn.