Joseph Moakley, who represents the South Bostondistrict in Congress, believes the Kennedy familyhas served the Boston community well.

"They are a family dedicated to public service.They live by the saying, `To those that much isgiven, much is expected,"' Moakley says.

Moakley says he believes the new generation ofKennedys share this deep commitment to publicservice.

"I work closely with Joe Kennedy. Joe Kennedyis a dedicated public servant," Moaklie says. "Hedoes things not for publicity but things peopledon't even hear about, to help people."

David J. Bender, an editor at George magazineand longtime Kennedy supporter, also believesRobert Kennedy had a profound influence on thisgeneration of Kennedys.

"The members of this generation have been verycommitted to giving something back," he says."That was his ideal and the way he raised hiskids."

Political Influence

When Bender was in junior high school, heworked as a volunteer for Robert Kennedy'spresidential campaign. Bender says he believesKennedy was unique for his political integrity.

"Robert Kennedy was the last Americanpolitician who could campaign in the urban centersand the suburbs and say the same thing," Bendersays. "He was the last politician who coulddeliver the same message everywhere and have itheard. It is the standard people use as the bar toaspire to."

According to Bender, no politician has beenable to do this successfully since Kennedy.

"The rhetoric is just that. It divides, it doesnot unite," he says. "President Clinton istrying--with the dialogue about race--but he's notquite there."

Bender thinks it was Kennedy's experience withtragedy that lent him credibility in both poor andrich neighborhoods.

"Given the tragedy in his life, he was able toseem like he was speaking from the heart," Bendersays. "There was a sense with the disenfranchisedthat he was someone who was open and did have acapacity to learn to accept new things. He wasdeeply touched by other people's tragedies."

Newfield discusses this connection with theunderprivileged in his book.

"Robert left a void that was never filled,"Newfield writes. "No one came after him who couldsimultaneously speak for the unemployed blackteenager and the white worker trapped in a deadendjob and feeling misunderstood."