From Staff Reports

After dropping his Democratic primary bid and announcing his independent presidential run a week earlier, RFK Jr. spoke for nearly an hour — and drew nearly 600 people — to a campaign rally at the Crowne Plaza in West Asheville on Oct. 15.

“Kennedy spoke glowingly about Asheville, saying he has visited for many years, and that it was a special place of ‘consciousness and enlightenment’” the Asheville Citizen Times reported. “He noted his work as an environmental advocate and lawyer that helped lay the groundwork for the French Broad Riverkeeper and similar river protection groups.”

Before the speech, Greensboro native Jason Costa told Asheville television station WLOS (News 13), “We need more than two choices... I think what he has done is huge. I think it’s a momentous time. And it’s a time where people are ready for a change.”

Asheville native P.J. Thiessen told News 13, “What we want is independence. We want what we started this country with and not what others have turned it into.” 

“What he stands behind isn’t any result of tribalism, political party. You know that what he’s saying is what he actually believes,” Asheville resident Alex Orton told the TV station.

Kennedy started his nearly hour-long speech with a point he kept referring back to — that he thought, “like many, that homelessness was caused by poverty, mental instability and drug use. But in his eyes, his travels have shown him a different reason.”

“They didn’t start out mentally ill... Homelessness makes you mentally ill very fast. Within three days, you begin to have psychic deterioration. The only real correlation is with housing prices. And California has the highest housing prices. And Los Angeles, where I live, the average price for a home is $800,000 and above.”

RFK Jr. said he thinks the average price for a California home could become the same in East Coast states. One of his main focuses is changing that idea for future generations.

“The central promise of the American dream is if you work hard and if you played by the rules, you could.. You could have a summer vacation. You can raise a family. You can put something aside for retirement from one job... There’s not a single kid, walking around today, who believes that promise applies to him.’

Meanwhile, Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) noted of RFK Jr.’s Asheville campign visit, “Local political figures found early stops in North Carolina on the campaign trail noteworthy. The belief is that Kennedy will try to make noise as a third-party candidate in swing states.”

The TV station quoted Chris Cooper, political science and public affairs professor at Western Carolina University, as saying, “If he (RFK Jr.) is going to affect the dialogue and discourse at all, he’s got to introduce the possibility that he can change the outcome in a state like North Carolina.”

News 13 added, “Kennedy concluded the afternoon by saying he believes there’s a good chance he’s debating next fall... Others say he has a long way to go.”

To that end, Cooper told News 13, “The best-case scenario is that we see his name potentially beside Joe Biden and perhaps Donald Trump or whoever the Republican candidate is. The entire system is set up to make sure that somebody like this (RFK Jr.) doesn’t get on the ballot. If he’s on it, that’s going to be a victory in and of itself.”

In dropping his Democratic primary bid and announcing his independent presidential run, News 13 said the following about the significance of the move for RKF Jr. — and the nation:

 â€œAlong with that, he separated himself from the Democratic Party.”

The TV station added, “Those in attendance were not only pleased to support Kennedy, but said they were glad just to have another option.”