Massachusetts was represented in the Senate by a Kennedy for 54 of the past 56 years, but not anymore:
Former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, son of Robert F. Kennedy, said today he will not run for the Senate seat held by his late uncle, Edward M. Kennedy.
The announcement, made in a statement released Monday, cracks open the race to fill the vacant seat. It also means that a Kennedy will not represent Massachusetts in Congress for the first time in 47 years.
Joseph Kennedy, 56, who served six terms in the House and several times considered a run for governor, said in the statement that he cares about social and economic justice but that he decided the best way to pursue that work was to remain at Citizens Energy Corporation, a non-profit he heads that gives heating assistance to the poor and invests in renewable energy.
It’s interesting, because if he wanted the seat, it clearly would’ve been his and he would have been able to stay there for a long time to come. Combine this with Caroline Kennedy’s decision not to seek Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat earlier this year, and it means that there is only one Kennedy, Patrick Kennedy, currently serving in elected politics anywhere in the country.
Things are looking up.
I think it’ll more and more difficult to get good people into politics. Who’d want to have one’s entire life laid bare and be picked apart in public?