Dem
51
GOP
49
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a ballot access problem. It is not easy for an independent candidate to get on the ballot in all the states—not even when your running mate is fabulously wealthy as a result of once being married to Google cofounder Sergey Brin. A better solution for Kennedy would be to get the Libertarian Party nomination, since the LP is already on the ballot in most states.
Yesterday, Kennedy announced that he is giving up his attempt to get the LP nomination and will go it alone (English translation: The Libertarians don't want him). Kennedy's problem is that he is not a Libertarian. He really doesn't fit in well with what Libertarians want. Not even on issues where they appear to match. Kennedy's signature issue is opposition to vaccinations. Does that match what Libertarians want? Not really. Libertarians are against the government forcing or even coercing people to be vaccinated, but they have no problem with people who want to get vaccinated doing it voluntarily. Their issue is the government forcing people to do things. Their view on vaccinations (and many other things) is that it is up to individuals to make their own choices, free of government mandates.
Kennedy has waffled on abortion. At first he favored a 15-week ban, but then he saw some polling data and changed his mind. This is suspect to Libertarians, whose position is clear: If a woman wants an abortion, it's none of the government's damn business. It's her decision, not her senator's.
Kennedy has also struggled to formulate a position on IVF. That should be easy: All the polls say it is very popular, so he should go with that. He clearly has no positions on any issue that he actually believes in. He is also not a good enough politician to do some polling, find out what is popular, and then adopt and stick to those positions as if he cared about them. (V)