Robert F Kennedy Jr., aka RFK Jr., recently endorsed Donald Trump.
What does this mean?
If you are a skeptic, you may think it means very little.
Why? He has paltry poll numbers and the perception of being a flake, and he has not been in electoral politics except for his recent run for the presidency.
However, if one subscribes to the above perception, the critical thinker would be missing an important point: RFK Jr. is Democrat royalty, and underestimating this salient feature would be a mistake for the naysayers of his change to criticizing the Democratic Party and supporting Trump.
By being a long-term, brand-loyal Democrat, RFK Jr. gives dissatisfied, traditional, blue-collar Democrats a reason to consider Trump. In his press conference last Friday, Kennedy outlined the reasons for his dissatisfaction with the party of his father and uncle.
Some of his reasons include:
- Rising illegal border crossings that have led to the tragic loss of innocent lives.
- An economy struggling under the weight of rampant inflation.
- Weaponization of the judicial system to rid the system of candidates the Democrats did not want Americans to hear.
- Restrictions on free speech.
- Target market changes since Democrats are no longer the working-class party, but rather the party of coastal elites who favor Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Agriculture, and support of engaging American citizens in foreign wars.
Today's Democratic Party is no longer the party of the past, as Kennedy outlined in his press conference. It lost its identity and became the party of the left, which no longer represents working people.
Some would even go so far as to say that it is now placing Americans in danger of losing our freedom; for that reason, RFK Jr. is endorsing Trump.
His new brand identity communicates to the undecided and independent voters that supporting Trump is OK. With the "gaslighters" constantly trying to cause doubt in anyone who may even have a scintilla of support for Trump, this endorsement provides an exit ramp for the never-Trump lane in American politics.
RFK Jr.'s endorsement of Trump positions today's Democratic Party as no longer the everyman party, but instead the party of a more effete white-collar demographic that is more left-policy friendly than its blue-collar comrades.
If one assumes that branding is an integral component of today's politics, it should give the Harris-Walz campaign pause to analyze more thoroughly the quantitative impact of RFK Jr.'s decision and the qualitative effect — the RFK Jr. Democratic bona fides that should be considered to safeguard an electoral defeat in November.
In a column I wrote in May, "Trump Needs These Three Things to Win," I indicated one item the Trump campaign must use is "political intelligence," which is the art and science of counting a candidate's votes using all legal means, whether new or old. This is simply "getting the vote out" by identifying Trump supporters who are not registered to vote or did not vote in the last presidential election and tracking their behavior by asking whether they voted early or will vote on Election Day.
Whoever uses these branding benefits and marketing tactics will win because they will understand that it's always easier when you have marketing and branding in mind.
Dr. John Tantillo is a Marketing Professor at Lander College For Men at Touro University and the author of the popular book, "People Buy Brands Not Companies." Read More of his Reports - Here.