On Tuesday, anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and household embarrassment Robert F. Kennedy Jr. chosen Nicole Shanahan as his working mate in his not-at-all-serious marketing campaign for the presidency. Although this appears like info which may function a stumper at a trivia recreation for the subsequent eight or so months (after which Kennedy’s complete marketing campaign will tackle the identical function), the choice might have extra impression than it could appear.
Whereas the Related Press might describe Shanahan as a “California lawyer and philanthropist,” what she actually represents is one thing else. She’s a money bomb.
Shanahan is the previous spouse of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, whose wealth Forbes estimates at $120 billion. In divorce proceedings after just below 4 years of marriage to Brin, Shanahan reportedly sought over $1 billion from her ex-husband. That may look like a comparatively tiny fraction of Brin’s fortune. In any case, Mackenzie Scott walked away with an estimated $38.3 billion in her 2019 divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
However the $1 billion determine appears beneficiant contemplating that Brin and Shanahan’s marriage fell aside after Shanahan reportedly slept with Elon Musk.
Shanahan seems to share Kennedy’s disdain for vaccines, falsely linking them to long-term ailments and a extensively debunked principle that they trigger autism in youngsters. She additionally expresses beliefs that persons are being negatively affected by “electromagnetic air pollution” from cell telephones. Regardless of the Related Press insisting that the 38-year-old Shanahan “brings youth” to RFK Jr’s ticket, what she actually brings is her checking account.
This 12 months’s notorious Tremendous Bowl advert, which featured themes and pictures stolen from the marketing campaign of President John F. Kennedy and resulted within the candidate apologizing to his household for the ache it generated, was largely funded by Shanahan. That 60-second spot price a reported $7 million, with Shanahan having donated $4 million to the pro-RFK Jr. tremendous PAC that produced it.
As The Washington Publish stories, along with funding the advert, Shanahan has already maxed out her direct contributions to Kennedy’s marketing campaign. Nonetheless, the Publish writes, “her choice as Kennedy’s working mate will permit her to provide as a lot as she needs.”
How a lot is that? Possibly not a billion. A few of her wealth is perhaps revealed on a private ultimate disclosure that’s due on Could 15, however Shanahan might search an extension. Even when it seems to be extra—Shanahan offered her personal firm, ClearAccessIP, for an unknown quantity in 2020—it’s unlikely Shanahan will pour all her property into this sub-quixotic marketing campaign. And contemplating that complete spending within the 2020 election topped $14 billion, no matter Shanahan takes from her vault isn’t prone to be sufficient to make Kennedy a severe contender.
However that’s the purpose. RFK Jr. is not a severe contender for the presidency and by no means has been. His marketing campaign is a traditional spoiler, one which leverages his acquainted identify to distract low-information voters. A spoiler marketing campaign doesn’t want to fret about profitable, and it doesn’t need to spend cash on the type of group and infrastructure essential to prove the vote on Election Day. As an alternative, Shanahan’s money could be directed to only the type of motion she helped happen in the course of the Tremendous Bowl—splashy adverts geared toward taking part in on that identify affiliation, specifically focused to voters who know nothing about this election apart from that they’re bored with seeing a repeat of Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump.
The largest motive that Kennedy is on this race is as a result of he’s been primarily inspired and funded by Republicans. As Politico famous final November, Kennedy was pulling checks from former Trump donors at the next price than former Biden donors. Nonetheless, that’s not essentially a sign that he’ll get extra Republican votes.
Talking with CNN on Monday, Robert Kennedy Jr.’s sister Rory Kennedy known as his marketing campaign “harmful.”
“I really feel strongly that that is crucial election of our lifetime, and there’s a lot at stake,” stated Rory Kennedy. “I do suppose it’s going to return all the way down to a handful of votes and a handful of states, and I do fear that Bobby simply taking some share of votes from Biden might shift the election and result in Trump’s election.”
Shanahan’s presence on the ticket might look like one other embarrassing think about an embarrassing marketing campaign. However she represents a pipeline of money that may fund complicated adverts that promote Kennedy and assault Biden in swing states the place a number of thousand voters could make a distinction.
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