Ted Kennedy endorses Obama. At first blush, it seems bizarre. Kennedy has been the left-wing conscience of the Democratic Senate delegation for a couple of generations. Obama is a relative newcomer, who does not belong to the CPC, neither has his votes nor rhetoric matched up super-great with Kennedy's. Kennedy has always been a steadfast believer in both "freedom of religion" and "freedom from religion." Obama's quite cozy with the Religious Right. On nearly every social issue, Kennedy is far to Obama's (and Clinton's and Edwards's) left. Obama, like his mentor Lieberman, has seemed to run as an opponent of the institution of the Democratic Party. On the three major votes in the last congress in which Obama differed with Clinton, he also differed with Ted Kennedy. At first blush, strange. Given Kennedy's record, one would think Edwards would have been his first choice. Given Kennedy's record and position of Senator, once would think Clinton would have been his choice.
Kerry's endorsement of Obama is hardly strange. He blames Edwards for his loss in 2004. He resented Bill Clinton's putting William Weld up for Ambassador To Mexico following Weld's loss to Kerry for Jr. U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. Kerry's politics are rather similar to Obama's in that they are hard to pin down. Kerry and Obama also share an aristocratic heritage. Like Howard and Jim Dean, but more about them in a bit.
Aristocracy, dynasty....hmmm....These seem to be the key to the Kennedy endorsement. He is the patriarch of the First Family of the Democratic Party, a family which had supplanted the Roosevelts. The newest generation has run aground a bit. Andrew Cuomo is no longer a member of the family. Both Joe and Pat's careers have hit the rocky shoals of substance abuse. Maria Shriver is married to the Republican governor of California. The two remaining Kennedys in public life with any credibility or trajectory left are Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. RFK, Jr., sadly, suffers from a condition which impairs his speaking voice, something which has halted his political ascent, but not his steadfast environmental and social advocacy. KKT lost a tough one for the governorship of Maryland sometime back but never found herself mired in any scandal of any kind. The latter two have endorsed Senator Clinton.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. President William Jefferson Clinton. It is not surprising that Ted Kennedy, the patriarch, does not want the Kennedy clan to yield their position of prominence within the party to the Clinton family. He had to be aware of something then first lady Hillary Clinton said during the impeachment proceedings when asked about how Chelsea was coping. HRC responded something like "since Chelsea was very young, Bill and I have been preparing her in an age-appropriate way for something like this. She's a very strong young woman." Nothing Chelsea Clinton has done in her life has suggested she wants to get away from politics, so the country can probably expect either her or a future spouse or both to be involved in seeking public office. Yes, the Kennedy name is in jeopardy of going into the Hall-Of-Fame but no longer being relevant politically.
And the Clintons are not the only new family name on the Democratic scene. The brother tandem of DNC Chairman Howard Dean and Democracy-For-America Chairman Jim Dean are hardly lightweights in the party. There's no family duo who can raise money and promote candidates like the Deans. They are lurking here and it will be very interesting how this plays out. One thing's for certain, there's no love lost between the Deans and Barack Obama. Howard Dean and Barack Obama nearly came to blows at the convention in 2004. Jim Dean ran Ned Lamont's campaign against Obama mentor Joe Lieberman, beating Lieberman in primary and losing to him in general election. Obama was a strong supporter of Lieberman throughout and has modeled himself much like Lieberman in his odd centrism that seems to pack always an initial attack on the Democratic side. The Clintons gave tepid support to Lieberman in the primary and tepid support to Lamont in the general. Oh yeah, the Dean brothers have children, Howard's are now college-aged. Make no mistake about this. It is personal. Obama represents a way for Kennedy to forestall the ascent of the two families with a chance to assume the Kennedy mantle.
Screw it. I don't blame the guy. It's is a move of a partriarch in his autumn, but hardly a move you'd read about in The Autumn Of The Patriarch. Family is important. It certainly makes the prospect of an Obama presidency a lot easier to stomach. Obama will owe TK some favors. That can't be a bad thing. At least, it offsets the favors he owes to Pat Robertson.
Oh, for all of those Democrats who fear another Clinton presidency because of the potential for partisan rancor, and thus are looking to Obama (D/R-Vichy) to stave it off, think again. Paul Krugman lays it out nicely.
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2008/01/paul-krugman-le.html
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8 comments:
"Obama will owe TK some favors. That can't be a bad thing. At least, it offsets the favors he owes to Pat Robertson."
Very good point. I was thinking something along those same lines myself yesterday.
And I'll be honest, when I read Caroline's endorsement, I wasn't quite swayed by her reasoning (I don't like these lofty comparisons of Barack as the next "JFK" or the next "MLK" .. I think they put an undue burden on all parties) I was impressed by the fact she remains almost entirely out of the fray and to hear from her was refreshing. I think lots of women of my generation look at her with a lot of admiration for what she's been through as well as what she has quietly accomplished.
I think Bill Clinton has done some serious damage to Hillary's campaign. People are using the words "unseemly" and I tend to agree. I think her explanation of his fervency being due to his role as a "loving spouse" who stands by her side falls a little flat given the public humiliation he has put her through over the years.
The devil's advocate question is if she can't control her husband on the campaign trail (or in his personal life with regard to her) how will she be able to control him while she's in office AND if she can't control her husband how can she control a government?
Just playing devil's advocate.
Everyone knows why Kennedy endorsed Obama.
For one, Bill Clinton is the bastard son of Poppa Joe.
Check the timeline.
How else would a no name, no pedigree'd hick end up a Rhodes Scholar.Poppa Joe built an empire in Arkansas during prohibition. He was always down there. Besides Clinton has a big head like all the Kennedy's. This is an internal, family squabble played out for all of us to enjoy.
Reason #2- Barack is the best candidate.
I am a psychic genius
AXN: She has no desire to "control her husband" on the campaign trail. They're doing what it is they think they need to do to WIN. Everybody is placing so much more nobility on all of this than it merits. Democracy, much like the adversarial system in law, is about WINNING. Justice OFTEN flows from that but hardly ALWAYS.
DAVE:
Reason #1: Great movie scenario. But the answers are, as you know: bright, highly-driven kid with incredible "people skills" in a small state whose mother hung around gangsters at Oaklawn who took an interest in the boy's future. The Pryors. Lasater. FULBRIGHT.
Reason #2: He's a lucky candidate. Guy who not only can't beat Bobby Rush in CHI-CD1 but can't get within 35 points of him is not much of a politician. I was a college actor and have a baritone voice. Give me 6 months hanging around a Black Baptist church and I could do the same shtick.
and DAVE, in case you were wondering...Although I AM A RACIST I can tell mutton dressed up as lamb. I have lots of family and friends of family who are also family in Georgia. White, Jewish people. Steadfast supporters of Cynthia McKinney throughout her career especially when bullshit accusations of "anti-semite" were levelled at her.
You like apples? How bout them apples?
very nicely done sir, hats off to you. I couldn't understand Kennedy's endorsement of Obama at all but this point of view deserves some consideration. I like your points about the Deans and the Lieberman connection as well.
Thanks, LIB, 'ppreciate it. Just having you, AXN and Dave even COMMENT about this post makes me feel good. I'll put up my readers with any of the "well-knowns" (meaning Kos, not Jonestown or Hellions) if terms of quality if not quantity.
Kelso, what Libby said and then some. This really lays out the Kennedy-Obama connection in way that stops me from scratching my head saying "what the..."
Tonight, I got into a little pissing match with a fellow LIRR rider about Hillary. He comment was anybody but her..."she's got her own agenda...and she's...." which was the point I stopped listening. I asked her what politician doesn't have an agenda, hidden or otherwise?
*crickets*
Listen, at this point, now that Kucinich is out of the race, I'll settle for smart and tough and Hillary's got both. I really couldn't give a rats ass about the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton swap. While I give my nod to HRC guardedly, I simply can't side with a man who wants to continue selling us out to zealots - political and religious.
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