Email
The late, legendary Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy had a deep affection for New Mexico, and Tuesday his son and namesake came to the state to honor his dad’s legacy and stump for President Barack Obama.
“The reason I am here is because my father would be here,” Edward Kennedy Jr. told me during a morning meeting at Satellite Coffee across from the University of New Mexico.
Former Sen. Kennedy, often referred to as the “liberal lion” of the Senate, died of brain cancer in 2009 after serving four decades in the Senate. He ran for president in 1980 but lost the Democratic nomination to Jimmy Carter.
Kennedy Jr. told me that his father loved New Mexico and once considered moving to the state in search of political opportunities shortly after his brother was elected president in 1960.
“In his memoir, ‘True Compass,’ he talks about seriously thinking about moving to New Mexico,” Kennedy said. “He thought Bobby would run for the Senate seat in Massachusetts (that JFK had vacated to run for president). He just automatically figured Bobby’s the next-oldest, and my grandfather had the master plan.”
But as history reveals, Bobby Kennedy didn’t run for the Senate in Massachusetts and ultimately, Edward Kennedy did. But Edward Kennedy said he fell in love with New Mexico when he campaigned here for his brother’s presidential bid, and he returned here to campaign for other Democratic presidential candidates many times.
“My father came to New Mexico every election cycle,” said Kennedy, who bears a striking resemblance to his father in both voice and appearance. “I’ve been to New Mexico many times with my father, even as a young boy.
“He loved it so much,” Kennedy added. “Not just the scenery, but the people, the diversity, the faith and the richness of the culture. There is a strong association and friendship with the people of New Mexico and the Kennedys.”
Part of that mutual admiration, no doubt, is because the Kennedy family was Roman Catholic and there are a large number of Hispanic Catholics in New Mexico. The Kennedys’ commitment to civil rights for minorities is another important connection with the state.
Unlike many of the men in his family — including his father, brother (former Rep. Patrick Kennedy) and uncle (the former president) —- Edward Kennedy Jr. has never held political office. He’s a Connecticut lawyer and investment banker who keeps a low profile, at least for a Kennedy.
He told me he simply wants to help Obama, whom his father endorsed early in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary season, win New Mexico. Kennedy spent most of Tuesday afternoon in northern New Mexico, including a get-out-the-vote rally in Española and an appearance at Santa Clara Pueblo.
“We know it’s going to be a close election,” Kennedy said.
He also said differences between Republicans and Democrats are stark.
“I do think we are at a turning point about the real philosophy of government,” Kennedy said. “Are you going to be expected to take care of yourself and you’re just on your own, or are we all kind of in this together?”
— This article appeared on page A6 of the Albuquerque Journal
