RFK: A Quick Dive into His Vision and Policies

By: Anthony Maiorca

Published August 12, 2024

Since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his campaign to run for President of the United States, the only thing seen in the media regarding him have been sensationalistic reports of his past and outlandish ideas. However, many Americans are wondering why there are not many media companies reporting on RFK’s policies or him in general in an objective manner. Especially since Kamala Harris had announced her own campaign to replace Biden as President, it seems Kennedy has dropped out of the American media cycle. This can't be completely attributed to news outlets as it seems RFK himself has not been the most outspoken in recent weeks, other than sparse news appearances. 

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Kennedy seemed to have taken over when first appearing as a presidential nominee for his independent approach to the upcoming election. Many of his policies reflect the ideas that many registered independents hope to see in action in the federal government. As independents make up more of the population than Democrats or Republicans alone, it seemed like a smart move for Kennedy to take. Kennedy has taken a firm stance to help the American middle class which happens to make up the majority of voters in this upcoming election. So what exactly are these “middle class” policies that he is promising to implement? 

Housing: in an ever growing troublesome housing market, Kennedy created a plan to help first time home buyers find a house that they can actually afford. This includes bringing the interest rates down, creating incentives for cities to bring vacant lots/housing back into the market, and even reversing gentrification in some areas

Affordability: Kennedy acknowledges that we are in an era of high productivity due to technological advances and questions why Americans are becoming poorer instead of richer. To fight these issues Kennedy proposes higher minimum wages, incentivizing the creation of unions, cutting energy costs, expanding free childcare programs, and reallocating military spending to programs specifically designed to help the middle class. 

Taxes: Kennedy’s official stance on taxes in America is “The tax burden on America’s middle class and working poor must be reduced”, so he has a strong drive to create tax fairness. Plans include doubling the child tax credit, increasing the standard deduction, and eliminating the carried interest loophole.

RFK during his debate segement " The Real Debate"

Alongside these policies that are aimed at the middle class of America, Kennedy has also announced middle ground approaches to common disagreements seen in the country today. 

Abortion: With Kennedy’s “more choices, more life” approach to abortion, he is taking an interesting approach to the highly divisive abortion debate. Without taking away a woman's right to choose, he articulates a plan to decrease the amount of abortions taking place. Acknowledging that a large number of abortions are carried out by women who feel they are not financially able to raise a child, he proposes a way to make women in America feel more comfortable having children. This includes a subsidized daycare program, paying for children who live under the poverty line, creating universal child care, and strengthening adoption infrastructure. 

Like every presidential nominee to come before Kennedy, there are a lot of promises being made and it seems unlikely that these will ever be implemented. The 2024 presidential election is becoming increasingly more of a two-party election like we are used to, especially after seeing his sharp decline in favorability ratings over the past few months. 

Official camapign banner- Kennedy / Shanahan 2024