There are very few political families who continue to fascinate over the decades. The Roosevelts gave the United States two presidents, the same goes for the Bush family. But the Kennedys are another story.
Sixty years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the myth surrounding this old family of Irish origin continues to captivate American political life.
There was JFK, then his brother Robert, assassinated in turn. Ted Kennedy also had his share of tragedy, but the accomplishments of his 47 years in the Senate still spark admiration.
Their influence goes far beyond their immediate career. Ted Kennedy’s support for Barack Obama in 2008 took on the appearance of consecration, of passing the torch from one generation to another that Hillary Clinton must still curse today.
UNDER THE EYE OF SAINT-PATRICK
Last Sunday, around fifty members of the Kennedy family spread over three generations met at the White House. A beautiful photo in the Rose Garden of the presidential residence was also taken; They have an easy smile, the Kennedys.
St. Patrick’s Day, it could have just been a banal reunion between Irish people, Joe Biden always showing himself incredibly proud to be Irish-American. In fact, the legendary Democratic family rather confirmed its desire to publicly display its support for Biden’s re-election and to reject, with the same enthusiasm, the candidacy of one of their own.
The photo was also posted on social media by Kerry Kennedy, seventh of Robert and Ethel’s 11 children, and sister of Robert Kennedy Junior.
FAMOUS AND TROUBLE-MAKER AT THE SAME TIME
The relevance of RFK Jr’s candidacy for president has recently increased. Already late last year, a Quinnipiac University poll gave him as much as 22% support in a three-way race with Biden and Trump.
Knowing that the Democratic president owes his success in 2020 to tiny victories in key states (0.2% in Georgia; 0.3% in Arizona; 0.6% in Wisconsin, for example), the slightest success of the Robert Kennedy’s eldest son could have a major impact on the final outcome of the presidential election.
In January, Gallup reported that 52% of Americans had a favorable opinion of the former president’s nephew, ten points better than that they had of Trump (42%) or Biden (41%). The announcement scheduled for next week in Oakland, California, of his running mate – he notably flirted with the idea of recruiting the famous quarterback Aaron Rodgers – will place him, once again, at the heart of political discussions.
THE BLACK SHEEP IS SCARY
Joe Biden’s campaign team is aware of the potential harmful repercussions that RFK Jr could have and last Sunday’s photo in the Rose Garden certainly aims to neutralize the spellbinding effect of the Kennedy name on many Americans.
The Democratic National Committee has also just created a new team responsible for attacking possible “election spoilers”, those saboteurs of electoral victory that Robert Kennedy Junior could become. He is still far from it. He must first find the necessary signatures so that his name can appear on the ballot in enough states.
And he will also have to dispel the distrust, even the rejection, that his multiple conspiratorial ideas and anti-vaccination positions generate, even within his own family. Still, decades later, it will be interesting to see if the “Kennedy mystique” continues to seduce the electorate.