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Nobody likes a spoiler. For that reason, Lis Smith,<\/strong> a well-known Democratic operative, is on a mission to make sure nobody likes Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n Smith is leading the party\u2019s efforts to reduce Kennedy\u2019s support and thus his potential spoiler power in this year\u2019s presidential election. She shared insights from the Democratic \u201cwar room\u201d on this week\u2019s episode of Inside the Hive.<\/em> \u201cOne thing that we\u2019ve seen is that while [RFK] attracts 10 to 15% in the polls right now, a lot of voters who say they are supporting him or open to voting for him don\u2019t know much about him beyond his last name,\u201d Smith says. Furthermore, \u201cthe more people hear or see RFK Jr.,\u201d she says, \u201cthe more they learn about him, the less they like him.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s what Democrats (and some Republicans) are banking on. \u201cIt\u2019s incumbent upon us to fill in the blanks for voters,\u201d Smith says. \u201cTo let them know that he\u2019s a spoiler for Donald Trump.<\/strong> To let them know that a vote for RFK is a wasted vote. And to really lay out the stakes of this election.\u201d Smith came prepared for the podcast with anti-RFK talking points that doubled as anti-Trump points: \u201cHe was recruited by Trump allies, he\u2019s being funded by Trump\u2019s biggest donor<\/a>, and his staff has identified stopping Biden as their top goal.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith says she is not opposed to third-party candidates in theory\u2014\u201cI don\u2019t think more choice is a bad thing\u201d\u2014but \u201cultimately, there are only two people in this election with a realistic path to victory, and those two people are Joe Biden<\/strong> and Donald Trump.\u201d That\u2019s why the Democratic Party has established a formal effort to warn voters about third-party contenders. \u201cThis is the first time in history that a war room like this has existed,\u201d Smith says. \u201cAnd it came into existence because Democrats finally learned the lessons of the 2000 election and the 2016 election: when third-party candidates played the role of spoiler and threw the election to Republicans with disastrous results.\u201d<\/p>\n Democrats certainly haven\u2019t forgotten how candidates like Green Party nominee Jill Stein<\/strong> drew votes away from Hillary Clinton<\/strong> in 2016. \u201cWe\u2019re making sure that third-party candidates receive a similar amount of scrutiny that the major party traditional candidates receive,\u201d Smith says. In practice, this means \u201cwe basically live and breathe everything RFK Jr. right now,\u201d she says. \u201cWe listen to or watch all of his interviews, all of his events, and we just go out and make sure that voters are fully informed about him.\u201d<\/p>\n This opposition-research effort is being emulated, to some degree, by Republicans. \u201cThey, like us, understand that RFK Jr. could be a wild card in this election,\u201d Smith says. But pro-Trump forces are \u201cof two minds\u201d about Kennedy\u2019s candidacy, Smith says. One day Fox\u2019s Sean Hannity<\/strong> is bashing him on the air; the next day Hannity\u2019s prime-time colleague Jesse Watters<\/strong> is interviewing him. \u201cBiden, Trump Go on Offense Against RFK,\u201d a banner on Watters\u2019s show proclaimed during the interview.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n