New Jersey Republicans are going all in on RFK Jr.

A missive dispatched on Monday said the following:

“The NJGOP welcomes the thousands of RFK Jr. supporters into the Republican Party, and we are ready to ensure they all cast their votes this November.”

Republican excitement about RFK Jr. has been widespread since he gave up his campaign and endorsed Donald Trump last week.

A more cautionary note is that Kennedy’s polling numbers have been trending down, which is common for independent candidates as we get closer to an election. Many people do not want to vote for a candidate who has no chance of winning.

There is also some polling data that suggests he’s been drawing support from both Democrats and Republicans.

No matter, Republicans are enthused and we will see how that turns out.

The statement from the state Republican Committee included a message from RFK Jr. himself.

Interestingly, this was not mere boilerplate, but a rather perceptive take on the upcoming election.

Here’s how it began:

“The phrase ‘MAGA’ has troubled liberals who think it is a call for a return to an America before civil rights, gay rights, and women’s rights.”

That is exactly what many liberals and Democrats believe. Here’s an anecdote for you.

Years ago, I read a quote from a Baby Boomer supporter of Trump who said he wanted things to go back “to the way they used to be.”

That can mean a lot of things, but one not so wild interpretation is a desire to return to a 1960s world where there were few, if any, environmental safeguards, and there was open discrimination against minorities, gays and women.

That supposition certainly seems accurate when you consider the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

And judging from what I have seen and heard at Trump rallies, “going back” is what many MAGA adherents seem to want. For instance, there would be no debate about gay-themed books in school libraries if such books did not exist.

RFK Jr. offered another analysis. Here it is:

“But I have a more generous interpretation, one that is truer to my experience of Donald Trump as he is today. “Make America Great Again” recalls a nation brimming with vitality, with a can-do spirit, with hope and a belief in itself. It was an America that was beginning to confront its darker shadows, could acknowledge the injustice in its past and present, yet at the same time could celebrate its successes. It was a nation of broad prosperity, the world’s most vibrant middle class, and an idealistic belief (though not consistently applied) in freedom, justice, and democracy. It was a nation that led the world in innovation, productivity, and technology. And it was the healthiest country in the world. I have talked to many Trump supporters. I have talked with his inner circle. I have talked to the man himself. This is the America they want to restore.”

That is certainly a very idealistic take on the MAGA movement.

A more practical observation is, how many voters in New Jersey are going to buy it?  With or without help from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.