Battenfeld: Hillary Clinton's Kennedy curse
HISTORY REPEATING? U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III praised U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren at the Herald offices.
Hillary Clinton could suffer a serious case of Kennedy deja vu if she makes another presidential run.
This time it’s U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III who may help derail Clinton’s White House path by endorsing her potential 2016 opponent, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, much the same way the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy backed Barack Obama in 2008.
“Whatever (Warren) wants to do she’s going to excel at,” the 34-year-old Kennedy said in interview with Herald editors and reporters. “She has been adamant that she’s not running for president and I take her at her word for that. If things change, we’ll see.”
The fact that Kennedy doesn’t dismiss a Warren run is significant and comes after his Massachusetts colleague, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, revealed to Boston Herald Radio that he told Warren he’d back her if she ran for president.
Kennedy could be an ace in the hole for Warren, the freshman Democrat who has energized liberals around the country with her attacks on greedy banks, Wall Street and Washington’s cozy relationship with lobbyists.
The soon-to-be second term congressman was Warren’s student at Harvard Law School and now, despite serving just two years in office, both are nationally-known Democratic allies much in demand by voters.
While the Kennedys and Massachusetts Democrats have enjoyed a close relationship with the Clintons in the past, the state’s reputation as “Clinton Country” took a hit in 2008 when Sen. Kennedy abandoned the New York senator in her battle against Obama.
The Kennedy endorsement came after Obama suffered a damaging defeat to Clinton in New Hampshire. Obama has never forgotten that and the remnants of his White House team appears to firmly in Warren’s camp — not Hillary’s.
While Joe Kennedy is one of the youngest members of Congress, he will have oversized clout in the 2016 race because his family is still beloved by Democrats and young Joe restored the Kennedy family name back in Washington.
Kennedy refused to tell the Herald who he’d side with in a Clinton-Warren matchup, but he offered profuse praise for the Massachusetts senator, saying she’s “given voice” to middle-class families and that’s why her message has “been resonating so much.”
The Kennedy family has also viewed itself as championing middle-class and poor families so a JoeK3-Warren alliance is a natural.
There’s another big reason Kennedy is a Warren admirer, and it’s personal. He met his wife, Lauren, in Warren’s law class and says “I owe” his old professor for that.
It’s very likely Kennedy would pay that debt back by choosing Warren over Clinton in 2016. More bad news for Hillary.
More On:
Hillary Clinton
Joseph P. Kennedy III
Elizabeth Warren
Author(s):
Joe Battenfeld / Boston Herald
joe.battenfeld@bostonherald.com
@joebattenfeld
I think this is a long shot, but we shall see.
ReplyDeleteHi Doc :-)
ReplyDeleteThe POTUS race I'd like to see, Warren vs Paul. The POTUS race we'll probably get, Clinton vs Bush.
Who knows, though? We're still a long way out.
pfunky.
ReplyDeleteClinton V Bush, yes I can see that as a possibility. From as outsider I suggest they both have baggage and I wonder what the populace will penalize them with. Purely from so far away I would expect Clinton to prevail simply because Bush made such a mess of the Gore fiasco some years ago. This is the memory we have in Australia where Jeb was held responsible for the failure of Gore. Any comments please, not necessarily political viewpoints but general commentary from the scene of the crime so to speak.
Merry Christmas and cheers from Aussie
Bush, who was the most conservative Governor that Florida ever had is now being accused by the Republican Right of being RINO and a closet Democrat because of his stance on immigration reform and Common Core. Should be interesting.
ReplyDelete