A boisterous crowd of a thousand or so packed the Stanley Marketplace in Aurora on Sunday to hear a White House pitch from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a presidential candidate who isn’t yet on Colorado’s November ballot but who said he represents an opportunity for people to “vote out of hope and inspiration” rather than fear.

Kennedy started his speech by decrying his omission from two recently scheduled presidential debates, noting that independent voters are by far the largest bloc of the American electorate. Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump agreed to the debates — one in June and the second in September.

“Don’t you think there should be an independent on the stage?” Kennedy said to loud applause. “I think it’s important that the American people get to see their presidential candidates debate.”

Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, announced last fall that he would run as an independent candidate for president, eschewing his and his family’s deep Democratic Party roots.

Kennedy’s campaign claims the son of U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 during his own run for the White House, has qualified for the ballot in seven states while amassing enough signatures to make the ballot in eight additional states. Clipboard-wielding volunteers on Sunday tried to hustle up signatures for access to Colorado’s ballot from attendees at the rally.

“We like Bobby, that’s for sure,” said Greg Jones, who drove with his wife from Fort Collins to attend the rally in Aurora. “We’re just glad there’s an alternative to the two existing candidates.”

His wife, Kathleen, said she likes Kennedy’s aversion to war.

“I think he’s an advocate of peace in the world,” she said. “I’m afraid we might go to war with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and China and he can prevent that from happening.”

Kennedy questioned the wisdom of Congress’ decision late last month to send $60 billion to Ukraine to aid it in its ongoing war with Russia, asking whether “we could have used that $60 billion here in the United States?” He also decried the nation’s rising national debt — now at $34 trillion — and the role of both Trump and Biden in its escalation.

“If we give them four more years, we’re going to see more of the same, aren’t we? This is existential,” Kennedy said to the crowd, many holding Kennedy-Shanahan signs.

Kennedy chose Nicole Shanahan, a California lawyer and philanthropist, as his vice presidential running mate in March.

Kennedy had tough words for the pharmaceutical industry, in line with his long-held skepticism about vaccine safety. He also questioned how effective Trump or Biden would be in managing the emerging and powerful field of artificial intelligence.

Politics watchers are trying to figure out what role Kennedy might play in the November election if he lands on all 50 state ballots, and who he might hurt or help more — Trump or Biden. Last week, polls conducted by The New York Times and Siena College showed that in a five-way race with minor party candidates included, Kennedy drew 8% of Trump’s supporters compared to 7% of Biden’s.

But from the stage in the hangar at Stanley Marketplace, Kennedy rejected the idea that he could be a spoiler, citing the results of a recent poll conducted by John Zogby Strategies. That poll, he said, showed him handily beating Biden in a head-to-head matchup, while barely beating Trump in a one-on-one contest.

“I cannot be the spoiler because I can win the race,” he said.

Adherents to both major parties were in attendance Sunday. Denverite Jennifer Camp, 51, said she typically votes Republican but wanted to broaden her horizons this year.

“We wanted to come and see the third-party candidate because we were sick and tired of the other two,” she said.

Longtime Democrat Jill Stedronsky, 62, said she had become so disillusioned with Biden that she would vote for Trump over the president. Democrats, she said, had let her down by supporting vaccine mandates and censoring speech on social media platforms under the guise of fighting misinformation.

But her heart is first and foremost with Kennedy, who she lauded for his willingness to take on corporate power.

“I’ve been following his campaign for over a year and I love the man,” said Stedronsky, of Lakewood. “He’s the great hope for the country.”