The Hawk, the Fox, and the Eagle: RFK, Trump and The US Presidential Race

If America is symbolized as an Eagle, then now is the time to consider the importance of two recent announcements by two formidable competitors in the 2024 US Presidential race – Robert F Kennedy and Donald Trump. Kennedy announced that he was a falconer or, as he called it, a “hawker,” and Trump’ announced that he wanted to be a “dictator for a day.” Trump is like a Fox and has an astonishing ability to perplex the pundits, the polls, and the prosecutors. Kennedy is like a lone falcon, far away, but which has a plan. The Hawk and the Fox are important for the future of the Eagle.

The animalistic metaphors matter because sport is a religion in America, and hunting is sport. Every Presidential candidate must establish their sports credentials. I remember when Senator Kerry launched his Presidential run. The images of him cycling in lycra, windsurfing (successfully spoofed by GW Bush here), and skiing killed his campaign before it even began. The problem is that American voters do not cycle in lycra, especially in battleground states. They do not ski. They do not windsurf. These images immediately revealed that Kerry was not “one of us.” President Bush understood this well. His sport was “chopping wood out the back every weekend,” just as he had done for years. It was authentic. It’s what he actually did every weekend. Chopping wood is what voters in battleground states do. That imagery created an immediate sense that George W. Bush was definitely “one of us.”

RFK Falconing as a child

Now, hardly any American falcons or hawks. Most have no idea what falconing or hawking is. RFK has been doing it since he was nine years old. So, it’s authentic. It matters because, in a single Instagram story, he recently introduced something new into the Presidential race. He introduced a novel way of explaining that there is always another way to frame any issue. His Instagram story showcased that he is a hunter because, make no mistake, falconing is hunting. If there is one thing Americans in battleground states do, it’s hunting. Now, here’s the twist. With this one Insta reel, RFK showed Americans that you can hunt without a gun. Now, that’s a novel thought. He appealed to the innate American longing for all that is wild and in the wilderness when he said that working with these fierce hunting birds is like being invited by a wolf pack to join a hunt. What hunter isn’t aroused by that thought? RFK made it clear that these birds hunt by nature. He is not making them do something they would not otherwise do. This is not a circus performance. He described it as a psycho-spiritual sport where the bird allows a human the privilege of accompanying it as it engages in the never-ending search for prey. He spoke of the privilege and importance of being deep in nature. This firmly appealed to the hard left and the hard right alike, who align on nature. With this one Instagram, he has united the Yellowstone crowd with the Greenpeace crowd, which is not an easy feat.

Also, RFK clearly understands that America is full of boomers. Demographics matter. Older citizens vote. Younger citizens usually don’t. The young won’t remember the massive impact of a film called Born Free which came out in 1966. It made Americans