Hello, Happy Tuesday. With 69 days until the election, we're starting today with a game. Bears, brains, and whale heads. What do they all have in common?

If you can guess what dead thing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was carrying, ping! ping! You're a winner.

You've probably heard RFK Jr.'s latest bizarre animal story. This is An old interview with his daughter Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy of Town & Country magazine: When Kick was 6 years old, her father found a dead whale on the beach, cut off its head with a chainsaw, and tied it to a minivan with a bungee cord to drive home. On the way home, rotten meat juices poured out the car windows, and the Kennedy children covered their own heads with plastic bags.

Ah, family memories. Bobby Kennedy's son (One of 11 childrenSome believe that RFK Sr. did not give up his presidential bid to support Donald Trump. Yes, the voice we hear is that of RFK Sr. shouting from the afterlife.

Stick to chopping up dead animals, Bobby. Leave your hands off democracy.

“If my father were alive, the real Robert Kennedy would have hated nearly everything that Trump represents,” Kennedy Jr.'s sister, Kerry Kennedy, told reporters. “And I completely disown, distance myself and disassociate myself from Robert Kennedy Jr. and his blatant attempt to trample on my father's memory.”

But should we, the people, scream? Could RFK Jr. really swing the election in Trump's favor?

Let's take a closer look.

Bobby Jr., what have you done?

RFK Jr. hasn't completely dropped out of the presidential race — instead, he suspended his own campaign and endorsed Trump — and will continue to urge his former supporters to vote for Trump. He once called him a “sociopath.” The game knows the game.

Kennedy told Dr. Phil (don't ask — Dr. Phil has shifted to the right) said he plans to remove Trump's name from 10 battleground states that could cost him needed votes. Does this mean Trump alone can decide the outcome of the presidential election? Dr. Phil asked.

“That's possible,” Kennedy replied. Kennedy claims that polls have shown that 57% of people who said they would vote for him said they would vote for Trump if Kennedy wasn't in the election, so removing Kennedy's name could theoretically be a deciding factor in some key locations.

But in states where the vote is all but certain to go for either Ms. Harris or Mr. Trump, he'll leave his name on the ballot anyway. Is it for pride? For paperwork? Or, as Mr. Kennedy put it, “the public can vote for me without any consequences.”

Ah, the great Kennedy tradition of meaningless voting.

Can he do that?

So I began to ask myself: Is that legal? Can I put myself on the ballot in places where I don't want you to vote, and then opt out, after months of building up my base of support that gave me the power to negotiate what would be in return for my opt-out?

Kennedy did not specify what role Trump had offered him, but he (and former vice presidential nominee Nicole Shanahan) implied that Kennedy would join Trump for a second term in lieu of him stepping down, what Kennedy called a “unity government.”

“If President Trump is elected and keeps his promises, we will eliminate the huge burden of chronic disease that is currently demoralizing and bankrupting our country.” Kennedy said this when announcing the suspension.

I spoke to Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, who assured me that Kennedy's position was solid and that, if offered, he could trade his vote for the job and continue to run wherever he wanted.

“The short answer is, yes, that is permissible,” Chemerinsky said of quid pro quos. “Of course, such promises are not enforceable, and if the appointment requires Senate confirmation, the appointment would depend on it.”

Chemerinsky cites a similar move in the 1952 presidential election, when Dwight Eisenhower made a deal with Earl Warren (The three-term California governor grew up in Bakersfield.) instead of nominating Warren to the Supreme Court. Don't challenge Eisenhower for the Republican presidential nomination.

The first vacancy after Eisenhower was elected was for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, something he balked at but ultimately went ahead with, Chemerinsky noted.

Justice Kennedy? It's unlikely, but with these guys, who knows. Maybe they'll become prime minister. Wizengamot.

But can he really do that?

Beyond the self-dealing, the question becomes whether Kennedy is actually a threat to the Harris campaign. The answer is not clear-cut, but it's close to yes.

Kennedy was briefly on track to win the election with double-digit approval ratings in several states, but his approval rating has fallen sharply in recent weeks since Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Biden as the Democratic nominee.

Most of those who previously supported Kennedy but changed their minds are now supporting Harris (39%) rather than Trump (20%). Pew Research Center analysisIt also turns out that many of Kennedy's supporters weren't paying much attention to the election and weren't particularly interested in voting, though they did say they were Republican. So who knows how serious they were in the first place.

But Kennedy could deliver votes for Trump in battleground states, and all those states need is a few votes in either direction.

One thing is for sure: J.D. Vance and Shanahan are no longer attractive to fellow ticket holders.

It's hard to imagine Shanahan was anything more than a cash machine for Kennedy, but he didn't even bring her to his Trump endorsement announcement, and instead spent her social media declaring how great her support for Trump was and repeating the sad lie that Harris is a communist and would, in fact, cause a “great famine” like “the one my family endured in China.”

Glad to see her back on the sidelines again, but things are looking tough for Vance: his and Trump's bromance was already rocky, and now he's competing with Kennedy?

Vance: This week's NBC interviewHe claims that those who worship the Kennedy dynasty really like Trump. He thinks he's in Camelot and that “Spamalot.”

“I'm happy to see Kennedy Democrats where they belong,” Vance said. “Kennedy Democrats are actually more comfortable in Donald Trump's Republican Party.”

As “You're a real idiot,” a doughnut shop employee told Vance last week.: got it.

What else to read

Must Read: Trump and Harris represent the partisan divide over ending poverty.
The Gravity of Power: RFK Jr. says his support for Trump isn't about revenge
LA Times SpecialCharlie XCX says Kamala Harris' tweets influenced the presidential election, and he's happy to help

Stay golden,
Anita Chhabria

P.S. Did the donut shop story ruin your interest?

This is Embarrassing video of Vance trying to act normal He placed the order during a campaign photo shoot. And here it is set to the end credits of HBO's “Veep.”

Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.