When campaigning, the Kennedy's do not generally refer to the assassinations of the two brothers at the heights of their political careers. But the memories are quite powerful when they are called up.
In a 1986 debate between Joe and his main opponent, then-State Sen. George Bachrach (D-Watertown), Bachrach accused Kennedy of allowing his non-profit Citizens Energy organization to deal with Libya to purchase oil.
Political observers note that Kennedy helped clinch his victory by responding that Libya had offered asylum to Sirhan Sirhan after he had assassinated his father, and that any accusations that Kennedy had dealt with Libya were off base. While Bachrach was approaching a tie with Kennedy before the debate, polls shortly afterwards gave Kennedy a lead of more than 10 points.
And Ted Kennedy is not above summoning the tragedies of the past to help him. In a televised debate two weeks ago, Malone tried to label the liberal Senator's position on crime too generous for criminals and too unsympathetic for victims. Kennedy responded, "no one has to tell me the effect of violence on a family"--thereby defusing the issue for the rest of the debate.
But name recognition and the memories of the Camelot years aren't the only advantages for a Kennedy who wants to enter politics. Money is also important, and the Kennedys have it. Each member of the third generation is estimated to have between $300,000 and $1 million in personal capital, with much more in the future expected from inheritances and endowments.
"They're rich and famous," Gallagher said. "That's where the family starts from. Try to figure out how John Kennedy was first elected to the Senate, and you'll see that he was working with his father's millions."
"You're running with a money gun at your head," said a spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Helen D. Bentley (R-Md.), who in 1986 successfully defended her seat against a challenge from Kathleen Kennedy Town-send '73-'74, daughter of Robert Kennedy.
"It was a very expensive campaign. Both sides spent over $1 million. You get a name like that running against you and you say, 'Oh, God, we have to raise a lot of money.'"
In 1986, Townsend had the money, the familial support and the name recognition in her bid for Congress against a first-term incumbent. But she lost to Bentley, garnering only 41 percent of the vote, despite efforts to exploit her name.
"I'm not sure that there aren't other cities where she could have won," said the Bentley spokesperson who is a Baltimore resident. "Baltimore people are local people. It's kind of insular in that way. And it's tough for an outsider to come in here and be automatically accepted."
The spokesperson for Bentley added, "You don't get that `stop the world--a Kennedy's coming by,' reaction here."
The financial advantage of the Kennedys is only compounded when they are incumbents. Ted Kennedy's opponents say the Senator has no trouble raising money from a wide variety of sources.
"Senator Kennedy's been raising money for six years and he started with about $10 million in the bank," Wilkins said. "Forty percent of his donations have come from PACs," she said, referring to political action committees for specific interests.
In his race against Joe Kennedy, Fiscus minimizes the importance of campaign money, saying "It doesn't cost much to go to someone's door and talk to them." But he has spent $5000 on the campaign, and only half of that comes from private donations.
Malone has been more successful. According to Wilkins, by tomorrow the campaign will have received around $1 million in private donations, 90 percent from inside the state. Malone does take any money from political action committees.
"It's not tough to raise money for a race against Ted Kennedy in the ways youmight think," Wilkins said. "The 40 percent of thepeople who can't stand him feel very stronglyabout it and they're willing to pay money tosupport someone else."
Political observers point to another sign thatthe shining Kennedy mantle may be dimming withtime--the failed bid of Ted Kennedy for Presidentin 1980. Early polls showed Kennedy far ahead ofPresident Jimmy Carter, but that edge dissipatedover the campaign.
"They're obviously not unbeatable because ofwhat happened in Maryland and because Ted couldn'twin the presidential nomination," said MITprofessor and Rainbow Coalition activist Mel King,who finished third in the 1986 race against JoeKennedy. "The name recognition helps, but it's nota guarantee of success."
Edward Kennedy Jr. and his sister Kara are nowco-chairs of their father's re-election campaign,following in the footsteps of Joe in 1976 andKathleen Townsend in 1982. In addition to havingfamily members work in the campaign organization,the Kennedys encourage their relatives to makecampaign appearances, which attract a lot ofpublicity.
For a long time, publicity about the thirdgeneration of Kennedys focused on their troubles.Some political observers said that the family wasjinxed, pointing to inci-