Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits Aurora and tries to vote for Colorado

A raucous crowd of about a thousand people gathered at the Stanley Marketplace in Aurora on Sunday to hear a White House pitch from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a presidential candidate who is not yet on the November ballot in Colorado but who said he represents an opportunity for people to “vote out of hope and inspiration” rather than fear.

Kennedy began his speech by decrying his negligence two recently scheduled presidential debates, noting that independent voters make up by far the largest bloc of the American electorate. Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump agreed to the debates – one in June and the second in September.

“Don’t you think there should be an independent on stage?” Kennedy said to loud applause. “I think it’s important that the American people can see the debate over their presidential candidates.”

Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, made the announcement last fall he would run as an independent presidential candidateeschewing the deep roots of the Democratic Party and his own.

Kennedy’s campaign claims that the son of US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 during his own run for the White House, has qualified for the ballot in seven states while collecting enough signatures to observe additional states to vote. Clipboard-wielding volunteers tried to collect signatures Sunday for access to Colorado’s ballot from rally participants.

“We love Bobby, that’s for sure,” said Greg Jones, who drove from Fort Collins to the rally in Aurora with his wife. “We are just happy that there is an alternative to the two existing candidates.”

His wife, Kathleen, said she appreciates Kennedy’s aversion to war.

“I think he is in favor of peace in the world,” she said. “I’m afraid we’re going to war with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and China and he can prevent that from happening.”

Kennedy questioned the wisdom of Congress’s decision late last month to send $60 billion to Ukraine to help the country in its ongoing war with Russia, asking if “we could have used that $60 billion here in the United States?” He also denounced the country’s rising national debt – which now stands at $34 trillion – and the role of both Trump and Biden in escalating it.

“If we give them four more years, we’ll see more of the same, right? This is existential,” Kennedy told the crowd, many of whom held Kennedy-Shanahan signs.

Kennedy chose Nicole Shanahan, a California lawyer and philanthropist, as his vice presidential running mate in March.

Kennedy had harsh words for the pharmaceutical industry, in line with his long-held skepticism about vaccine safety. He also wondered how effective Trump or Biden would be in managing the emerging and powerful field of artificial intelligence.

Political observers are trying to figure out what role Kennedy could play in the November election if he lands on all 50 state ballots, and who he might hurt or help more — Trump or Biden. Last week, polls conducted by The New York Times and Siena College showed that in a five-way race with minor party candidates, Kennedy attracted 8% of Trump’s supporters, compared to 7% of Biden’s.

But from the podium in the hangar at Stanley Marketplace, Kennedy dismissed the idea that he could be a spoiler, citing the results of a recent poll conducted by John Zogby Strategies. That poll, he said, showed him handily beating Biden in a head-to-head matchup, while barely beating Trump in a head-to-head matchup.

“I can’t be the spoiler because I can win the race,” he said.