The unlikely Kennedy who ended the political dynasty

Being a ginger doesn't help.

I met him a few times and, through my public service position, came into occasional contact with a charming family member of his. This is very sad as he is a young man that I admire very much. He never rested on laurels, and he was a fighter for his district.

I actually liked him and I hope he re-enters politics at some point.

I doubt it's the end of the dynasty though I certainly wish it was. Their entitlement won't die this easily.

Whatever -- he can always run for something else again.

r4 why do you care, specifically? Is it just because he comes from a family of politicians and you don't like that?

He made a bad move to primary challenge Markey. He has a political future, but needs to pick and choose wisely and show patience with his ambition.

I'd be interested in knowing if Markey had discussed stepping down with him before this, and decided not to after Kennedy had already announced. We don't really know what goes on in the back rooms.

He'll be back. But he did misread the people of MA if he thought Markey was vulnerable.

Not so sure about Alex Morse who reportedly didn't even get the most votes from the town where he's mayor.

He was vulnerable - Joe was polling much higher than him - until AOC decided to support Markey and threw her weight behind him. I'm sure there were other reasons too but that's the biggest one I remember.

I think the biggest issue is that he didn't really have a notable difference of opinion between himself and Markey. Not that there's anything wrong with that. He'll just try again after Markey's next term when he (most likely) retires. Are there any nearby vulnerable Republican senators he could take down instead?

Running against an incumbent dem for a safe seat was arrogant.

r11 that's what primaries are for.

The Kennedy's have a very mixed history of helping America. Ted wouldn't give us healthcare under Carter because he wanted to run against him. And their private behavior has always verged on the Roman Empire in Decline.

Joe K. couldn't answer the fundamental question, why do you want to be senator? Cause of family and blah, blah, blah. Well, he had it coming. A kick in the ass to know his place in the pecking order.

[quote]Are there any nearby vulnerable Republican senators he could take down instead?

Massachusetts has a Republican governor - why didn't he run against him first?

It's The Question that they have trouble answering.

[quote][R11] that's what primaries are for.

Primaries are to show the world your arrogance? Who knew.

r17 how is it arrogant to stand for election?

True, r16. Teddy had a time of it, trying to explain his challenge to the incumbent Pres. Carter.

It seems that they don't want to admit to "vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself...."

"Because I think I can do a better job than you" is a pretty valid reason.

This is the first time a Kennedy has lost any public contest in MA.

R14, Charlie Baker is very popular in MA, and has done a generally good job with the COVID-19 pandemic. It also helps that the state legislature is dominated by Democrats. Any GOP governor there has to be pretty damn moderate to survive.

Not true, R21

It was quite presumptuous of Kennedy to run against Markey considering how popular the latter is in MA. Kennedy should've waited and run for Warren's seat if Biden wins, and she becomes a member of his cabinet.

Arrogance is the only explanation for him running and he got his wake-up call that his family name doesn't carry the same weight as it once did in MA.

Maybe Teddy thought if he became President it would somehow make his brothers' deaths worthwhile. People are irrational.

Being a ginger doesn't help.

The anti-ginger bias on DL is disgraceful; I'm surprised you didn't throw in that "he smelt funny down there"

"anti-ginger bias"? 🙄

People are over "dynasties". Plus this fool gave up his house seat to run for Senate. I assume the seat is still comfortably Dem.?

This fellow could always start a podcast

I thought the Kennedy dynasty essentially died with Ted?

Markey will continue to be wall paper in D.C. The guys been there since 1976 and does anyone know what he's done there? Good for him for having the better message to defeat Kennedy but no one should expect anything to come from it.

Meanwhile his cousin is getting caught up in anti-vaxx, COVID-19 conspiracies like this

I thought they were all dead. Who knew?

Why Joe Kennedy’s Senate campaign flopped

“This goes to show you that the left doesn’t do their homework and they’re easily won over by bright shiny objects,” said one Kennedy ally.

OSTON — The question seemed to trail him everywhere, from the day Joe Kennedy announced he’d challenge Sen. Ed Markey in the Democratic primary to the final hours of the campaign: Why are you running?

In a year of campaigning across Massachusetts, Kennedy never seemed to come up with a satisfactory answer. In the end, he simply gave up trying.

Instead, in a primary-eve speech in East Boston, the neighborhood where his famous family has its roots and where he launched his Senate bid in 2019, the 39-year-old congressman sought to dismiss the idea that his motivation for running mattered at all.

"I've spent the last weeks and months on the roads across our commonwealth in cities like Lowell, and in Chelsea and in Gloucester. In neighborhoods like East Boston," Kennedy said. "And not one person in those cities, not one, has asked me why I am running for the Senate. The only thing they ask: What can you do to make this better, and when I need you, will you be there?"

He lost every precinct in East Boston Tuesday.

Kennedy’s failure to lay out a rationale for taking on Markey wasn’t the sole cause of his defeat. Rather, it was symptomatic of a campaign that was too confident, for too long — it didn’t think the usual rules applied, or that the 74-year-old Markey had enough fight in him to fend off one of the Democratic Party’s brightest young stars.

"There was a really strong reason for running. I don't think they were ever able to articulate it. That's the problem," said political consultant Doug Rubin, who supported Kennedy. "I've always felt that the best campaigns are the ones with the right candidate at the right moment. I actually thought Joe was the right candidate for this moment, and for whatever reason, they were never able to win that argument and frame the race that way."

His candidacy was designed around the idea that a vote for Kennedy was an investment in his seemingly limitless political future, while Markey was already on his way out the door.

What Kennedy didn't envision was the way Markey would reinvent himself as a darling of the progressive left over the course of the year, harnessing the energy of young voters and climate activists.

The Markey campaign spent almost half a million dollars airing an ad that only featured AOC, and not Markey, in the weeks leading up to the primary.

In Kennedy's eyes, Markey's new image didn't square with his record, which was more in line with Joe Biden than Sanders or Warren. Kennedy often pointed to Markey's support of the 1994 crime bill and the Iraq War on the debate stage, but that didn't matter to Markey's energetic online base.

"The Markey campaign did a masterful job convincing voters Ed is someone he is not," one Democratic strategist with Massachusetts ties said after the primary results were tallied

Word on the street is Kennedy took a shot at markey trying to avoid a down the road confrontation with ayana Presley. Truth?

For fuck sake; that Politico piece was written by an idiot.

Joe Kennedy III is just 39 years old, a bit early to be writing his political career and aspirations off..... He's still member of House of Representatives and unless mistaken his seat there is safe for time being.

Likely guy was lead astray by goings on of that AOC loon and others of that ilk in thinking it was their time to take out any incumbent they wished. It worked out well for Ritche Torres and a some others, OTOH more than a few got slapped down and lost.

With undergraduate from Stanford, J.D. from Harvard Law, time in Peace Corps, and political positions that tick many of the boxes for where "younger" generations are heading, I wouldn't write JK III off just yet.

Not everyone can be a Obama, and that in hindsight might not be a bad thing. Rising too fast through ranks and landing top prize relatively quickly is all very well, but what happens next?

R18 It was arrogant to primary a popular incumbent.

Typical Politico crap. They want something to be a "trend". Everything is a horse race.

Did Pelosi ever explain why she endorsed him? That old biddy did serious damage. She’s stated that she doesn’t approve of Democrats primarying other Democrats but made an exception here. so clearly she hated Markey’s progressive politics.

"There was a really strong reason for running. I don't think they were ever able to articulate it. That's the problem," said political consultant Doug Rubin, who supported Kennedy. "I've always felt that the best campaigns are the ones with the right candidate at the right moment. I actually thought Joe was the right candidate for this moment, and for whatever reason, they were never able to win that argument and frame the race that way."

That quote from a supporter says it all. "Right candidate for this moment" is not exactly a substantive argument in favor of Kennedy's candidacy. Let's face it-he ran because he's a Kennedy and he felt entitled to hold the office due to being a Kennedy. Except the lustre of being of Kennedy has faded.

Black president, fine. First woman? Yes eventually, after Joe with Kamala maybe. Gay president? Could be Pete, David, Tammy, Kyrsten? Latina? Si, AOC en unos años. Jew? Why not Brian Schatz?

But I will never, never, ever....vote for a fucking ginger.

[quote]He's still member of House of Representatives and unless mistaken his seat there is safe for time being.

He only has 4 months left in that seat, R36

[quote]Joe Kennedy III is just 39 years old, a bit early to be writing his political career and aspirations off..... He's still member of House of Representatives and unless mistaken his seat there is safe for time being.

He's giving up the seat so, yeah. The Kennedy name is done in politics. And about it time too.

We've had ginger presidents. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Martin Van Buren were all redheads.

The third generation of Kennedys is far from over. There are literally dozens of them...some quite bright, others less so. The thing is, you can't run on the name alone, and that's the lesson here.

There were plenty of other dynasties over the years, Adamses, Tafts, Roosevelts, Bushes, Byrds, Gores, Fishes, Cuomos, etc. People vote for the man or woman, not the name. Name recognition gets you only so far.

Still think he looks too much like the villian from The Incredibles. That's why he lost.

R44 Had no idea George Washington was a red head. That's news to me.

The last political Kennedy that was worth a shit was Bobby.

R47 Must have been the powdered wig that threw you off.

Amy Kennedy, wife of Oxycontin addict Patrick Kennedy, is currently running against a turncoat in New Jersey.

Looks like a former Republican will win Kennedy’s House seat. So Kennedy’s decision to primary Markey will mean he will be replaced in the House by someone who will be the most conservative member of the MA delegation. Thanks, Joe.

R47 Yup. Andrew Jackson too.

Calvin coolidge was also a redhead and jfk had a auburn brownish hair.

R49 I used to have such a crush on Patches, but he didn't age well.

I looked up Amy Kennedy and she has an undergrad degree from a state school and an online MS degree.

Ended, my ass!

Only eldergays care for that name. They're over.

Dose he have any money? Did he get a trust fund from his grandfather ole Joe Kennedy too?

It's time for Kennedy to move to California and leave odious Massachusetts behind. He can always duck it out with Swalwell and Garcetti for Kamala's seat.

This new generation will not look kindly on the Kennedy family and their decades of revolting behavior, the incidences of which are too numerous to list here. A lot of these young activists say things I disagree with but they would likely not moon over the Kennedys the way the boomer creeps did. Never forget that Ted Kennedy stopped universal healthcare to spite Jimmy Carter. The media covered this up because they loved the Kennedys and hated the "hick " Carter. The days when the Kennedy name is sufficient have passed and good riddance.

He’s ugly and looks like a try hard dork.

Not, r20, in the specific context of challenging your own Party's incumbent.

As both Teddy and Joe III learned.

Go sit in the corner and be quiet

[quote]What Kennedy didn't envision was the way Markey would reinvent himself as a darling of the progressive left over the course of the year, harnessing the energy of young voters and climate activists.

Markey and AOC are the cosponsors of the Green New Deal in Congress. Markey didn't have to "reinvent" himself. His progressive credentials were already there. Kennedy was a dope for not figuring that out.

He figured this was his only shot at the senate because next time he’ll have to contend with Ayanna Presley. His chance is gone.

I love Ayanna Presley, she's real and about getting shit done. I hope she has a very long career in public service.

I personally love Ayanna P, and have family in MA who like her too (not in her congressional district). She's had a meteoric rise in recent years and has well supported a solid far-left agenda.

But that's the problem - despite it's reputation, MA (state-wide MA, not Boston) is not that highly liberal. It's more dark purple, overall. The central and western parts of the state are actually pink (lean moderate republican in many areas). This is why so many of the state's governors have been Dem-lite Repubs (Weld, Cellucci, Romney, Baker). Ayanna would have a hard time in a state-wide election, being so far to the left and esp being relatively new and unknown (MA likes a known factor).

Don't discount Ginger Kennedy in a future Senate race there. He's been handed a needed defeat - what possessed him to take on Markey is beyond me, Markey has been in office for 40+ years - but if he learns from it he'll be back. MA still loves it's Kennedys

You can't make shit like this up:

Kennedy had to decline running for his seat in the House in order to run for the Senate. The person who won the Democratic primary (and is the person likely to win in November) is an Auchincloss--as in the same family as Jackie Kenneday's stepfather.

Hey Dems, MOVE TO KENTUCKY. Move to Texas. You take down a REPUBLICAN.

R59 Agreed. Too much has come out...and out...and out...and out to romanticize the Kennedy name anymore. While they may benefit from some name recognition, the next reaction of people is just as likely to be an eye roll as it is a vote. I grew up in Massachusetts with Ted Kennedy in office for much of my life, but I sure rolled my eyes when this new one challenged Markey. Come back when you have something to say.

R62, Okay.

Good riddance. Kennedy is an anti-vaxxer and against legalization of pot. Talk about retrograde.

R66 Kennedy was polling MUCH better than Markey and it all changed after AOC endorsed Markey. So it makes sense that Kennedy challenged him.

I know Markey will be re-elected, but it will NOT be with my vote. As a protest, for the first time in my life, I will be voting for the Republican in Nov!

R71 yes, time to put him out to pasture

By voting, do you mean hacking into the voting machines?

[quote]I know Markey will be re-elected, but it will NOT be with my vote. As a protest, for the first time in my life, I will be voting for the Republican in Nov!

Why?

😭 [italic] Say it isn't so, Joe !

Joe Kennedy should run as a write candidate for his current congressional seat. He shouldn't just let it fall into the hands of a conservative Democrat.

r71 are you sure that Ginger is an anti-vaxxer? or are you think about his uncle, Bobby Jr? The rest of the mainstream Kennedys have publicly disavowed Bobby's crazy views on that topic.

R71, can't keep the Kennedys straight, obviously referring to Robert.

Yeah, I had them mixed up. Apparently, he has also changed his position on marijuana.

He should have BEGGED for my support and help.