General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Leftist Values [View all]H2O Man
(73,510 posts)I think that you expressed the experience of a lot of us here. The quote at the top of the OP comes from my copy of his '68 campaign magazine, "Bobby." It went on sale (for 60 cents) in the local newspaper/magazine store a couple of days before the California primary. It's a bit tattered now, all these years later, kind of like me.
The two other quotes are in "The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America," by Thurston Clarke (Henry Holt & Co; 2008). That book's prologue details how that question -- "What if?" -- haunts many of us today.
And you are exactly right: it would be very different today. The dynamics of Chicago, Nixon, Vietnam, and the extensive series of crimes known collectively as "Watergate" damaged the nation, far beyond how bad it was when RFK was a candidate.
I still wear the tie clip that he handed out, during his 1964 campaign for the Senate, on the courthouse steps in Norwich.