The Next Kennedy

[babylonsister]

I say YAY! I miss the Kennedys; Joe sounds promising.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/05/14/the_next_kennedy.html

May 14, 2012

The Next Kennedy


Bloomberg notes that veteran politicians say 31-year-old Joseph Kennedy III (D), running for Congress in Massachusetts, "is the real deal. He draws comparisons to the young Jack Kennedy, and especially to Ted Kennedy in his first race for the Senate in 1962: Both were a little beyond their 30th birthdays, and it was their first bid for office after serving stints as county prosecutors."

"An even more relevant analogy, longtime politicians say, is that Joseph Kennedy is a natural, as were his illustrious great- uncles."

Said former Sen. Chris Dodd: "I have been around politics for a long time and only occasionally you meet someone with special skills and ability and genuine warmth. I don't care what his name is; that's Joe."

[H2O Man]

1. Recommended.

He is a good man, with very real potential as a "Kennedy Democrat."

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I say Boo! I don't like dynasties.

Just being another Kennedy doesn't make him special. What if his name were Joe Blotchnik and he came from Nowheresville?

[Mass]

3. Agreed.

At this point, there is still a primary on this seat. This may leave him a chance to show who he is, but at this point, why not have kings?

[babylonsister]

5. I'll take a good, charismatic, liberal pol any day, not

'just' because he's a Kennedy.

[gateley]

7. I think the fact he served in the Peace Corps and works for a pro bono law firm

says a lot about him.

I like the fact of the uber wealthy (well some of them) going into public service. They've been raised with a sense of fearlessness that others haven't, and are more inclined to say Fuck You to the establishment. I'm thinking Roosevelt and the Kennedys who have gone before.

I think what he's done with his young life -- working for those who most need it -- is what makes him special.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. He may be a good guy,

and well-qualified. If so, great. I just don't like the idea of somebody running for office, and people rushing out to vote for them, just because they are one of the many members of the very fecund Kennedy family. I'm sure there are some Kennedys who shouldn't be elected dogcatcher. Detach the person from the name, then make the decision.

[gateley]

30. I think if his name was Joe Jones, and knowing what little I gleaned from Wiki and other articles,

I'd pay attention to him anyway. I like what I've read, and I'd like that about any candidate I was considering.

I don't want to DIScount him because he's a Kennedy, either.

[Mass]

22. He may be a good guy, but we do not know

So, let's have this primary so that democracy wins. We are only stronger when we debate our ideas.

[harmonicon]

24. ... and the Romneys and Bushes, etc. ... (nt)

[gateley]

28. I didn't cite them. This guy's a Kennedy, not a Bush or Romney. He's been raised

to believe public service is honorable.

[harmonicon]

31. And the Bushes and Romneys weren't? They think it's terrible and disgusting?

Whether or not this Kennedy guy is a good guy or not has nothing to do with his name, and everything to do with his character.

[gateley]

34. I think they were raised to scam the system and to put their interestes ahead of others.

Well, the Bushes, anyway. Romney's dad seemed to do a lot of good while he was in office, don't know what happened to Mitt.

[zeemike]

13. There was no Kennedy dynasty...

The real dynastic powers killed them...or did we forget?
Has anyone ever talked about the Bush dynasty?...who have been in the political elite for a hundred years.

[Alcibiades]

17. Lots of folks have talked about the Bush dynasty

I'm critical of it, too. It's actually been something even the MSM has noticed. The article below is one of many.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/2012-first-election-cycle-without-a-bush-since-1948.php

While I don't care for dynasties either, the Bush dysnasty has long been duly noted. And, yes, both dynasties have been compared and contrasted ad nauseum.

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-250_162-639795.html
http://www.villagevoice.com/2002-11-19/news/the-kennedy-dynasty-vs-the-bush-dynasty/
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Walter-Rodgers/2012/0411/Political-dynasties-Romney-Bush-Kennedy-betray-basic-American-values

And, though it is largey forgotten, in part because the brand of Republican his father represented is now long dead, Mitt is also the heir to an important political dynasty. His own conversion to Reagan Republicanism mirrors that of the GOP as a whole.

[zeemike]

21. And yet they compare and contrast one to the other that never was.

Thus diluting the one that was by saying they both do it...

[Alcibiades]

26. There is a false equivalence

Especially given that one dynasty was ended by an assasin and the other was in power for 12 or more years, not counting Bush Sr.'s vice presidency.

Nonetheless, if you look at state, local and federal offices to exclude the presidency, the Kennedy family certainly do constitute a dynasty as most folks use the term.

[zeemike]

27. Being a senator is not exactly being in power.

Except perhaps in the state...and you can broaden the definition enough to make a case for many family dynasties...Ron Paul is a dynasty under that definition...and the Udall dynasty...and many others.
But none of them attained real power...and retained that power for such a long time.

[jwirr]

20. Absolutely. We wanted JFK, they killed him. We wanted RFK and they killed him. We refused to

elect Ted because many of us were afraid they would kill him also. There was never a Democratic dynasty.

[harmonicon]

23. I couldn't agree more. (nt)

[hedgehog]

4. I would say that he can't be "the next Kennedy" because there is no such thing.

For one thing, he's two generations further from the immigrant experience. He was raised in a different time and place than the three Kennedy brothers.

[ananda]

6. Nice looking too.

[img][/img]

[Ishoutandscream2]

9. He's got the teeth and the hair!

[Voice for Peace]

10. and demeanour

http://www.google.com/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=&sa=X&ei=GxexT5-KFKjL2QXc7rzpCA&ved=0CAkQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNEPou8O4YS96xQaJ7_qjFtuSdjGuA

[adigal]

19. I would advise him to stay off of small planes

Did you all know that before Ted Kennedy torpedoed his chances for the presidency with Chappaquidick, he was in a small plane crash?? Just too many coincidences for me.

[harmonicon]

25. Nice looking?! Thank god. I couldn't stand to have an ugly or homely politician. (nt)

[Bake]

29. Wow. He looks a lot like a young Jack Kennedy!

Dynasty, schmynasty. If he's GOOD, and if the name helps him get elected, MORE POWER TO HIM!!

I hope he has Teddy's heart of a lion!!!

Bake

[hifiguy]

32. He does look a lot like Jack, doesn't he?

That sardonic, self effacing smile in the second pic is pure JFK.

[lynne]

11. Another Dynasty?

Never been fond of the idea. Let him prove himself first before getting excited. If he's "cream", he'll rise to the top no matter his name.

[patrice]

12. An individual is as an individual does. & A dynasty is as a dynasty does. The Bushes are a dynasty

because they act like one and they treated us like chattel.

Whether Joseph Kennedy III is a dynasty or not depends upon WHAT HE SAYS AND DOES.

Labels used with little or no actual facts are just another form of prejudice.

[patrice]

14. Reducing all possible factors to a single label also disrespects the People, because

it's paternalistic.

[Recursion]

15. This is Barney Frank's district, and includes JFK's birthplace

It's also the district for which Gerrymandering was named, though it's moved farther south than it was at the time. Oddly enough, it still looks a bit like a salamander:



To summarize: this is Brookline, Newton, Fall River, and New Bedford with a long stretch of Route 2 connecting them. I don't know if he'll win the primary, but if he does he'll probably be in the House for however long he wants to be...

[Alcibiades]

18. It's not odd at all

What's remarkable is that we have any districts that seem geographically compact. So long as state legislatures--no matter who is in the majority--get to draw the lines, and the population is fairly heterogeneous, this will be the result.

[Dystopian]

16. Joe for Oil

It's all in the family ... the Kennedys work for the people.

peace~

[gateley]

33. They've done so much for those in need. Bobby Jr is fighting for the

environment, too.