RFK Jr. picks Nicole Shanahan as his VP pick. Who is she?

 

Nicole Shanahan. ABC News/Getty.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has picked Nicole Shanahan as his VP pick. ABC News. Shanahan is the former wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who she divorced last year. She is also an activist who has worked mostly with medical charities and environmentalism. Shanahan describes herself as a lifelong Democrat and was upset with the way the DNC was failing to live up to its values. Kennedy had previously said he would pick Shanahan as a VP if she wasn't rich, but it is speculated that is a reason why she was picked as gaining ballot access in many states is an expensive process. Kennedy also had to pick a VP early in order to gain ballot access in some states. 

My Comment:

I was fairly critical of the rumors that RFK Jr. was considering some VP picks. I didn't think Aaron Rodgers or Jesse Ventura would be good candidates. But compared to Nicole Shanahan, they would be dramatically better. I am not a fan of this pick at all. 

First of all, Shanahan is almost totally unknown by the wider public. I guess if you were active in the healthcare or environmental activism communities you might have heard of her. And if you were very interested in the personal lives of Google co-founders you might have as well. But I would guess that Shanahan has almost zero name recognition. Indeed, the first time I had ever heard of her is when she was mentioned as a VP candidate for RFK a few days ago.  

She also is going to turn a lot of people off. With this VP pick the idea that RFK is going to draw votes from Donald Trump is pretty laughable. I can't see anyone on the GOP side that would want to vote for a woman that describes herself as a "lifelong Democrat". And has spent much of her life as an activist for healthcare and the environment, things that most Republicans don't have as a priority. 

I also don't get the idea of picking a VP candidate from a solid blue state in California. Traditionally your VP pick would be someone from a swing state so people would vote for their hometown person. It's why the Kamala Harris pick in 2020 for Biden was so head-scratching, California was always going to go for Biden regardless, it should have been someone from a swing state. Perhaps 2024 is different with RFK mostly drawing from liberals, but it's still an odd pick. 

About the only positive I can think of for RFK Jr. is that Nicole Shanahan is an attractive woman. That probably shouldn't matter but people do vote for candidates they are attracted too, and she is reasonably attractive for a politician. I certainly wouldn't vote for someone based on that, but some people might?

But I think there might be some truth to why RFK Jr. picked Shanahan, she's got deep pockets and that is an advantage. It's unclear how much money she got from her divorce, but we know she sought $1 billion. It's doubtful she got that much, but I am guessing she got quite a bit. She is independently wealthy and can help fund RFK Jr's campaign. She funded RFK's Super Bowl add, which cost $7 million, and she put up more than half. 

Will her pick move the polls at all? Probably not. A few of RFK's right wing backers might balk at voting for a lifelong Democrat, but there aren't that many of them in the first place. A few Biden voters might go with RFK Jr. now because they personally like Shanahan or her activism, but I don't see much movement in the polls from this. 

The real winner is Donald Trump. With a VP pick, RFK Jr will have ballot access in most or even all states. And this VP pick will probably convince a few of RFK Jr's supporters to come back into the Trump camp, while at the same time drawing a few more voters from Joe Biden...