Robert F. Kennedy Single Handedly Killed the Commission on Presidential Debates

For the first time since its founding, the Commission on Presidential Debates is not organizing the presidential debates. The shocking announcement by both the Biden and Trump campaigns is even more stunning given that the announced debates will occur before the DNC and RNC pick their presidential nominees—one would think the debates would wait until the candidates were officially nominated by their respective parties. Considering the Commission's well-known tendency to favor the Democrat candidate in its selection of networks, moderators, and formats, it is surprising that Biden would want to circumvent the Commission and organize the debates on his own. The reason is obvious: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

During each presidential election cycle, Republicans have been consistently undermined by the ostensibly bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. Although the Commission claims to be 'bipartisan,' it clearly represents the interests of the so-called 'uni-party.' The Republicans on the Commission are either covertly or vocally anti-Trump. For instance, former Republican Senator Roy Blunt, a Commission member, infamously criticized Trump as he left office. Similarly, former Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, also on the Commission, has publicly declared that another Trump presidency poses an existential risk to democracy. Given this blatant bias, it's no wonder that Trump chose to bypass the Commission and arrange the presidential debates independently. The real question is why would Biden follow suit if the Commission supposedly serves his interests?

When Biden's campaign proposed the debate, it made one point very clear: the debate would not include Robert F. Kennedy Jr. While Democrats publicly claim that the lifelong Democratic challenger running as an independent would steal votes from Trump, they are fairly certain that as November approaches, the real risk is that he peels votes away from President Biden. By circumventing the Commission and moving up the debate to before the nominating conventions, Biden removes any risk that RFK Jr. would qualify for the debate and upstage him on national television. Under the Commission's rules, RFK Jr. would likely qualify to participate in the debates. If Biden agreed to debate Trump under the Commission's rules and RFK Jr. qualified, he'd face a tough decision: Would he give RFK Jr. the chance to appear on the same stage as him in front of American voters, specifically Democratic voters? Or would he have to withdraw from the debate? Neither eventuality is appealing. It is a no-win situation for Biden. So, in a fairly genius move, Biden's campaign is ensuring RFK Jr. is frozen out.

At the end of the day, the one thing both the DNC and GOP agree on is that they, and only they, should be able to select the next President of the United States.