Kennedy Family Split On Endorsements
This story was written by Carrie Budoff Brown.
Like any other American family, the Kennedys are a house divided when it comes the 2008 presidential race.
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and her sister, Kerry, have hit the trail for Hillary Rodham Clinton. So has their brother, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Old hands to President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy dote on Barack Obama, in part because he reminds them of the charismatic brothers.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver and a half-dozen other family members put money on Christopher Dodd.
And everybody wants to know where Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) will go. Yet he isn't talking - or likely to endorse.
A tangle of longstanding political ties, friendships and gut feelings has caused the Kennedys and those closely identified with them to scatter across the primary field. But the Democratic pursuit of their endorsements and their cash underline how the presidential candidates still chase the Kennedy imprimatur like it is their party's seal of approval, automatically transferring warm feelings of the family's legacy to them.
"There is certainly a romantic aspect to it," said Eric Smith, a press aide to former Rep. Dick Gephardt during his 2004 presidential campaign, which picked up support that year from U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island. "That period in the Democratic Party is one of great optimism. It is one that Democratic activists think of very fondly. So an association with that time is a positive in the eyes of Democratic activists."
Ted Kennedy is the biggest catch.
The senator reeled in Iowans for John Kerry in 2004, drawing crowds that only Howard Dean could muster. Democratic activist Bonnie Campbell, who was backing Dean, recalls walking into her Des Moines precinct on caucus night, spotting Kennedy in the doorway, and hearing her husband say: "We are screwed."
With a field this year that includes his Senate buddy (Dodd) and two members of his Senate committee (Clinton and Obama), Ted Kennedy appears ready to sit this one out.
"Senator Kennedy has no immediate plans to endorse a candidate," said a statement released by Kennedy's office. "He has very strong relationships with many of these candidates personally, and he has a lot of respect for them. Senator Kennedy believes that any one of them would make a great president. He looks forward to the campaign and seeing a Democrat elected to the White House."
His family is definitely picking sides, however.
But the former Kennedy aides are the ones drawing the most attention for their bold comparisons.
Obama received an email from Harris Wofford, 81, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and adviser to President John F. Kennedy, soon after his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention. The message: "Do not let this moment pass."
"He touches my soul, and I think he has touched the soul of America," said Wofford in an interview after endorsing Obama this month. "For me, no one has done that since John, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. I waited a long time to have that feeling."
For George Stevens Jr., the longtime producer of the Kennedy Center Honors who worked in the Kennedy administration, Obama "captures the spirit" of Bobby Kennedy.
The Politico Like any other American family, the Kennedys are a house divided when it comes the 2008 presidential race.
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and her sister, Kerry, have hit the trail for Hillary Rodham Clinton. So has their brother, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Old hands to President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy dote on Barack Obama, in part because he reminds them of the charismatic brothers.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver and a half-dozen other family members put money on Christopher Dodd.
And everybody wants to know where Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) will go. Yet he isn't talking - or likely to endorse.
A tangle of longstanding political ties, friendships and gut feelings has caused the Kennedys and those closely identified with them to scatter across the primary field. But the Democratic pursuit of their endorsements and their cash underline how the presidential candidates still chase the Kennedy imprimatur like it is their party's seal of approval, automatically transferring warm feelings of the family's legacy to them.
"There is certainly a romantic aspect to it," said Eric Smith, a press aide to former Rep. Dick Gephardt during his 2004 presidential campaign, which picked up support that year from U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island. "That period in the Democratic Party is one of great optimism. It is one that Democratic activists think of very fondly. So an association with that time is a positive in the eyes of Democratic activists."
Ted Kennedy is the biggest catch.
The senator reeled in Iowans for John Kerry in 2004, drawing crowds that only Howard Dean could muster. Democratic activist Bonnie Campbell, who was backing Dean, recalls walking into her Des Moines precinct on caucus night, spotting Kennedy in the doorway, and hearing her husband say: "We are screwed."
With a field this year that includes his Senate buddy (Dodd) and two members of his Senate committee (Clinton and Obama), Ted Kennedy appears ready to sit this one out.
"Senator Kennedy has no immediate plans to endorse a candidate," said a statement released by Kennedy's office. "He has very strong relationships with many of these candidates personally, and he has a lot of respect for them. Senator Kennedy believes that any one of them would make a great president. He looks forward to the campaign and seeing a Democrat elected to the White House."
His family is definitely picking sides, however.
But the former Kennedy aides are the ones drawing the most attention for their bold comparisons.
Obama received an email from Harris Wofford, 81, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and adviser to President John F. Kennedy, soon after his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention. The message: "Do not let this moment pass."
"He touches my soul, and I think he has touched the soul of America," said Wofford in an interview after endorsing Obama this month. "For me, no one has done that since John, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. I waited a long time to have that feeling."
For George Stevens Jr., the longtime producer of the Kennedy Center Honors who worked in the Kennedy administration, Obama "captures the spirit" of Bobby Kennedy.
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To All My Democrat Friends:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wish.
To My Republican Friends:
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Posted by mudrose at 10:41 AM : Dec 18, 2007
I''ll pay for the van rental!
If a Kennedy backed a republican, THAT would be newsworthy. Otherwise, this story is just a big steaming pile of horse squeeze!
Posted by Infidel_Us
I think Ted Kennedy should take his whole family for a nice drive after his annual Christmas Party.
If a Kennedy backed a republican, THAT would be newsworthy. Otherwise, this story is just a big steaming pile of horse squeeze!
Posted by antoniof123
Doesn''t matter to us one way or the other what you care about.
1) Kathleen Kennedy Townsend - Bubba was the scheduled headliner for her $800,000 fundraiser to support her campaign for Governor in 2000
(http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/08/05/clinton.vacation.ap/index.html)
2) Kerry Kennedy Townsend - wife of Andrew Cuomo, who Clinton appointed as his Housing secretary
3) Robert F. Kennedy Jr - founder of Waterkeeper Alliance, has regularly been invited to hearings for the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund and Environmental Health of which Hillary Clinton is the Chair
4) Ted Kennedy - in his "Toughest Fight Ever" to maintain his Senate seat in 2004 against challenger Mitt Romney managed to maintain his seat; Hillary hosted a fundraiser for him in Boston and Bill hosted a fundraiser for him in Virginia
(http://www.csmonitor.com/1994/0926/26082.html)
So Ted hasn''t endorsed anybody, but if he does, well . . .
Perhaps the other candidates ought to demand full disclosure of how much money Billary has raised in the past for their campaigns . . .
I''d also be interested in hearing who Hillary is thinking about appointing to her cabinet if she becomes President - might the Shaheens, Bob Kerrey, and Bill Richardson be on that list?
It''s also important because many of the solutions she''s listed on her site mention her intention to ''lead'' based on consensus of experts - for example her plan to end the Iraq war is to appoint a committee. Her plan to address social security is also to appoint a committee. Her diplomacy efforts she intends to delegate to an unnamed UN committee. So who exactly is going to be sitting on these committees?