Presidential long-shot Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s run as an independent candidate for president is unlikely to have a significant impact on the 2024 race, a new poll found.
After Kennedy ditched the Democratic primary race to campaign as an independent earlier this month, political experts suggested the environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine advocate could peel off voters looking for an alternative to President Joe Biden, along with COVID-19 vaccine skeptics who would otherwise back Republican front-runner and former President Donald Trump.
A Yahoo News/YouGov online survey of 1,675 U.S. adults found, however, that Biden would maintain a razor-thin 1-point lead over former Trump — whether or not Kennedy continues his independent bid for the White House.
Without Kennedy running, Biden beats Trump 44% to 43% among registered voters, the survey conducted Oct. 12 to Oct. 16 found.
With Kennedy in the race as an independent, he manages to woo 9% of voters.
But because he pulls voters from both parties, that still leaves Biden squeaking by on top, at 40% to Trump’s 39%.
Even 9%, however, may be overstating his impact: when the survey did not name Kennedy and asked respondents to choose Trump, Biden and “another candidate,” whose name they had to enter, only 1% wrote in for Kennedy.
“This far out, especially given the wide gulf between Kennedy’s open-ended (1%) and prompted (9%) support, the former is likely a better measure of those currently planning to vote for Kennedy than the latter,” YouGov pollster Mark Blumenthal told Yahoo News.
This post first appeared on Viral News Africa | Africa Trending News, Celebs, Social Media News, please read the originial post: here