When I heard the news today that RFK had chosen Nicole Shanahan as his running mate my reaction was “Who?” I’d never heard of her, at least that I could remember. For reasons I’ll get to we all might have heard her name mentioned in the past but feelings about RFK Jr. aside this is news. Since no one else has written about it I will.
Let’s start with todays news. Various outlets have various takes but I’m choosing to highlight USA Today’s coverage. It is piercing and says this pick is proof that while RFK Jr’s campaign can be a problem for Biden’s re-election it’s at heart a vanity campaign. It’s not like Shanahan hasn’t at time supported Democratic causes as her Wikipedia profile shows. However, as USA Today notes she shares RFK Jr.’s conspiracy/anti vax beliefs:
Nicole Shanahan, a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur with very deep pockets, serves as a perfect mirror for Kennedy’s conspiratorial take on politics and corporations and medicine and America.
She used her political coming out party in Oakland, California, to suggest that one of the causes of her own daughter’s autism was vaccines and medicine typically given to children. This is right in line with the controversial and contested views Kennedy has espoused for years.
There’s more. I can’t remember who but one talking head politely indicated Shanahan was somewhat less than “polished” during today’s announcement. That she had her work cut out for her in learning to be effective on the campaign trail. On the other hand, if USA Today’s expressed belief RFK Jr.’s campaign is a vanity exercise and all about him maybe he didn’t want anyone with charisma to begin with. What he did however need was someone with LOTS of money who was willing to hand it over to him.
Remember that disastrous Super Bowl ad? The one that had RFK Jr. apologizing to his family. Four million of the $7 million tab was put up by Shanahan. Oh but it gets worse. It seems she played a major role in developing/shaping that awful thirty seconds! It makes me wonder how hard up RFK Jr. is for money to run his campaign. Last fall Shanhan was “out” having expressed disappointment he’d dropped out of the Democratic primary process and was going to run as an Independent. Is it crazy to suggest the price of keeping the money coming was her becoming his running mate?
Well, to be fair there are actually less harsh profiles being published today about Shanahan but after reading a few I think USA Today has it right. We knew Kennedy would pick a kindred spirit which is why we heard crazy talk like NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers was on the short list. Rodgers is rich to be sure but if you know anything about most professional athlete’s contracts a lot of his wealth it going to be tied up for years to come. Usually, while agents get their cut of those huge contracts upfront the actual athlete sees much of the money deferred.
Anyway, RFK Jr. had to pick someone because of ballot access issues. Some states require candidates running as Independents to have a running mate at the time they submit their application for ballot access. He was running out of time. Shanahan shares views he holds dear, and has tons of money and a demonstrates willingness to part with it even before jumping on the RFK Jr. bandwagon. It remains to be seen whether she’ll help or hurt – as I’ve noted she doesn’t seem to be terribly comfortable doing campaign style stumping. Then again many a candidate doesn’t want a VP pick who might equal or even outshine them so she might indeed be exactly what he wants. Especially since she’s never held any elective office (or even run for one) which means he can play the “I know what I’m doing card” with her as he takes her money.
Still, I’m betting that most people’s initial reaction upon hearing who he picked was along the lines of “Who the hell is she?”
