Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gears up Iowa campaign to challenge President Biden

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is mounting a campaign in Iowa to challenge incumbent President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination — hiring staff, recruiting canvassers and volunteers, looking for an Iowa headquarters and planning to spend money for ads on TV, the internet and in the mail.

"We're starting now," said Kennedy's campaign manager Dennis Kucinich, a former congressman from Ohio who himself ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.

Kennedy will appear at the Des Moines Register's Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 12.

More: Des Moines Register Political Soapbox to bring 13 presidential hopefuls to the Iowa State Fair

Kucinich told the Des Moines Register Monday that Kennedy is the only Democrat who could defeat Donald Trump — who Kucinich said is all but certain to win the Republican nomination — by cutting through political polarization to win the support of Republicans and voters from the center-left to the center-right as a unifying figure.

But the environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist, has also been a controversial figure who has promoted conspiracy theories about vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic.

He drew widespread condemnation from Democrats advocacy groups last month over his comments that COVID-19 is “targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people” and spare Chinese people and Ashkenazi Jewish people.

Kennedy draws the support of about 15% of voters in national Democratic primary polls, according to FiveThirtyEight, and 11% in a late May poll of Iowa from Emerson College.

Questions remain over Iowa Democratic caucuses

When and how Iowa Democrats will caucus remains unsettled.

The Democratic National Committee voted earlier this year to strip Iowa of its first-in-the-nation place at the front of the presidential primary calendar. Iowa Democrats cannot hold their caucuses ahead of Super Tuesday in March without incurring sanctions from the DNC.

The DNC has also said it will sanction candidates who campaign in states like New Hampshire and Iowa that do not have the committee’s blessing to hold early contests.

The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee said in June that Iowa Democrats’ plan for the 2024 caucuses does not comply with the national party’s presidential primary requirements. The committee has given Iowa time to make adjustments to that plan.

"This isn't an impartial move here. They're trying to rig the election," Kucinich said. "And that's hardly a democratic approach. Small-d, it's not."

The Iowa Democratic Party and DNC did not respond to requests for comment about the Kennedy campaign's plan to begin moving into Iowa.

More: 13 GOP presidential candidates make their pitch at Iowa Lincoln Dinner. What they said:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. won't run as an independent, his campaign says

The Kennedy campaign is willing to run afoul of the DNC's primary calendar guidelines, Kucinich said, and the operation already is active in New Hampshire.

In pouring resources into early states, the campaign plans to chip away at Biden's incumbent status as voters realize only Kennedy can beat Trump, Kucinich said.

"The people of Iowa will respond to authenticity," he said. "They'll respond to truth-telling."

Kucinich said the changes to the process will have reverberations with Democrats that are yet to be felt, as the Kennedy campaign bets that Iowa will still be one of the early-voting states.

Kennedy would not run as an independent candidate, Kucinich said. He will campaign on issues such as inflation, housing cost, protecting the standing of the middle class, childcare costs and environmental concerns.

The campaign also will hone in on the war in Ukraine, opposing U.S. military support, and government officials' involvement in the tech industry.

Kennedy is also expected to address the concerns of farmers in Iowa and the Midwest who would be affected by eminent domain to construct carbon-capture pipelines for the ethanol industry.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the DNC's position on Iowa's 2024 caucuses.

Chief Politics Reporter Brianne Pfannenstiel contributed to this story.

Chris Higgins covers the eastern suburbs for the Register. Reach him at chiggins@registermedia.com or 515-423-5146 and follow him on Twitter @chris_higgins.

Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will campaign in Iowa to challenge Biden