Kennedy Endorses Obama - How Important Is It?

This week, the final State of the Union address by the current U.S. President, George W. Bush, was completely overshadowed by the announcement that Senator Edward Kennedy was endorsing Barack Obama in his quest for the Democratic nomination. It almost made the State of the Union address a non-event. Post speech commentators found it hard not to mention that Senators Kennedy and Obama were sitting together.

Both the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns made sure the public was aware of which members and how many of the Kennedy family were supporting each candidate. This was somewhat ironic in that the Obama camp has made much of the fact that two families, the Bush and Clinton families, have had such a dominate role in our political scene. We were directed to believe that another prominent political family was jumping on the "change" theme.

How important is an endorsement from a member of the Kennedy family? Apparently, it is quite important if only for the publicity. Frankly, I feel it is overrated. We need to remember that the Kennedy family is made up of individuals each of whom have varying talents and skills. Certainly none of them are worthy of an unquestioned following.

Barack Obama has been compared to John F. Kennedy. People who put forward this comparison are being quite selective in their memories. JFK has been almost deified in the minds of some. This is largely because of his tragic assassination. The Kennedy family has artfully kept this in the forefront of American consciousness along with his boldness in standing up to the Soviet Union during the Cuban missile crisis. Keeping these events prominent in the memories of that period has been advantageous in shoring up the Kennedy clan powerbase.

However, Barack Obama would be well advised to stay clear of pointing out too many similarities between himself and JFK. Many of today's voters have little memory of that time. An objective review of the history of the Kennedy administration would reveal that the Bay of Pigs fiasco came on John F. Kennedy's watch. It was JFK who put the U.S. military in the midst of the Vietnam conflict. If John F. Kennedy had lived, it would have been he, not Johnson, who suffered the eventual political fallout. Also, there is still much uncertainty regarding the personal moral conduct of both John and Robert Kennedy. Obama will do well to avoid inferring too many similarities.

The endorsement from Senator Edward Kennedy does mean something. But, it should not be because it is from a Kennedy. Rather, it should be because it comes from a man who has a long history of public service and championing the causes Barack Obama also supports. This is the United States of America. We have no royal families here. Let's keep this endorsement in its right perspective.

That's Wade's two cents.

Wade Houston
February 1, 2008