Now, Shanahan has been picked as running mate—which led to a strange reaction from the Libertarian Party chair. “I think that a lot of libertarians are a little bit confused over why he chose Nicole Shanahan,” L.P. Chair Angela McArdle said to The Hill. “I’m sure she’s a lovely person, but she doesn’t necessarily fit into alignment with any of our views.” But why would she need to align with Libertarian voters’ views? Well, there’s been plenty of speculation that the Libertarian Party seeks to throw RFK Jr. on top of the ticket—an odd choice if you consider what his Environmental Protection Agency would look like, for one.

Up until now, many pollsters and pundits had believed that RFK Jr. running as an independent would hurt former President Donald Trump more than President Joe Biden. “Right after Kennedy went indie, an NPR-PBS-Marist survey showed Biden leading Trump by three points (49 to 46 percent) in a head-to-head contest, but by 7 percent (44 to 37 percent, with RFK Jr. at 16 percent) in a three-way race. Similarly Quinnipiac had Biden leading Trump by one point head-to-head (47 to 46 percent) but by three points (39 to 36 percent, with 22 percent for RFK Jr.) with Kennedy in the mix,” reported Intelligencer‘s Ed Kilgore.

Now, Kennedy appears to be helping, not hurting, Trump’s chances: “The RealClearPolitics polling averages nationally now show Trump leading Biden by 1.6 percent (46.6 to 45.0 percent) in a two-candidate race, and by 5.4 percent (40.7 to 35.3 percent, with Kennedy at 12.3 percent) in a three-candidate race.”

But Kennedy faces a significant ballot access roadblock ahead—which is solved by accepting the L.P. nom, if that’s what’s offered to him. Currently, Kennedy is on the ballot in Utah only. But his campaign assures voters that “it has collected enough signatures to also qualify in Nevada, Hawaii and New Hampshire,” per Politico. His super PAC also says it’s garnered enough signatures to be included in Michigan, South Carolina, Arizona, and Georgia. (I assume the real reason why he won’t take the L.P. plunge is because the moderator of an upcoming L.P. presidential debate is yours truly, and I’m no fangirl.)

Branding the Bible: In other news from the very normal campaign trail and our very well-adjusted candidates, Trump has started selling $60 Bibles for Holy Week. “We must make America pray again,” Trump said in a Truth Social sales pitch for the bibles, which is interesting messaging for a man who has repeatedly declined to name his favorite verse, called it “Two Corinthians” instead of “Second Corinthians” in a 2016 speech at Liberty University (where you really shouldn’t get that wrong), and…didn’t regularly attend church before it was politically advantageous to him (still only choosing to attend on holidays and for photo ops).

“People are so shocked when they find…out I am Protestant. I am Presbyterian. And I go to church and I love God and I love my church,” said Trump, who has generally declined to name a church he attends regularly, back in 2015. “In one video shared on Truth Social and played at Trump’s rallies, a narrator’s voice booms: ‘On June 14, 1946, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a caretaker.” So God gave us Trump,'” reported Axios. And in December, Trump said he wanted to “create a new federal task force on fighting anti-Christian bias.”

All of this comes together to look an awful lot like pandering to Christians, while also trying to hawk the word of God for a quick buck. Par for the course for Trump, but forgive me for not being particularly excited about this field of presidential contenders.