Patrick Kennedy Will Not Seek Re-election
[Guest post by DRJ]
The Hill reports Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island has announced his decision not to seek re-election in November:
“Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) will not seek reelection this year, he said Thursday night.
Kennedy, who is the son of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), has served in Congress since 1995. The congressman’s father passed away nearly six months before Kennedy made his decision to step aside.
Kennedy said in a web video posted Thursday night that his life had taken a different direction, which led him to decide to retire.”
Kennedy’s retirement would end the decades-long Kennedy legacy of officeholders in Washington, D.C. Some suggest his retirement is due to his poor polling but I credit William A. Jacobson.
— DRJ
I hope he’ll be able to put together some long-term sobriety out of the spotlight.
daleyrocks (718861) — 2/11/2010 @ 9:24 pmDiane Watson (D-CA33) announced her retirement today also.
AD - RtR/OS! (011035) — 2/11/2010 @ 9:35 pmNeither Kennedy’s seat nor Watson’s are listed at The Cook Political Report as competitive House races in 2010. I don’t know about Watson’s district but if Kennedy’s seat was at risk, as reported, that brings to 51 the number of Democratic House races that could be considered Lean or Toss Up. A year ago, that number was 21. In the same time period, the Republicans went from 6 at-risk seats to 10.
DRJ (6a8003) — 2/11/2010 @ 9:49 pmgiven the
gerrymanderinglayout of district boundaries here in the PRC, it’s almost impossible for her seat to be at risk.whole generations of sheep would have to learn to look up and think, which just ain’t gonna happen.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 2/11/2010 @ 9:54 pmted out lived his usefulness by about 60 years. At that point Mary Jo would still be alive and the world would be a better place.
After looking at this link: http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/politics/local_politics/eyewtiness-news-poll-rep-patrick-kennedy-vulnerable I realize there are no longer any “beautiful people” in the kennedy family.
Jim (582155) — 2/11/2010 @ 9:59 pmPatrick’s life is taking a new direction to avoid traffic barriers.
Mike K (2cf494) — 2/11/2010 @ 10:03 pmClogs to clogs in three generations, the Brits call it. Shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves here, I think. Now Teddy has gone, and he managed to stay in the will, no further need for Patrick to maintain the facade. He will drink himself into oblivion…
Gazzer (583345) — 2/11/2010 @ 10:34 pmOr, he’ll join his cousin(?) on the pad for Hugo.
AD - RtR/OS! (011035) — 2/11/2010 @ 11:20 pmIn one of the Harry Potter movies, Professor Snape asked “What’s the difference between Monk’s Hood and Wolf Bane?” (They’re both the same thing, but Wolf Bane is more often referring to the root of Monk’s Hood (which is poisonous, petal, stem, root).)
Barack has definitely been successful, but not how he intended. While the Democrats were trying to feed Wolf’s Bane to Republicans, they (the Democrats) have been ingesting massive amounts of Monk’s Hood.
John Hitchcock (6b2655) — 2/12/2010 @ 12:31 amI wonder if we’ll see the “we can’t let a Kennedy seat fall to the Republicans!” whine trotted out again for this occasion, after it backfired so spectacularly last time.
M. Scott Eiland (c552ec) — 2/12/2010 @ 12:35 amRhode Island and Massachusetts have been battling each other for at least 50 years regarding which is more liberal. While Kennedy’s stepping off is a good thing, don’t get your hopes up too high on that Massachusetts suburb.
John Hitchcock (6b2655) — 2/12/2010 @ 1:06 amAs hard as may be to beleive the Dem party in R.I. is even more corrupt than the Kennedy clan. I’m sure, given his poll numbers, he was heavily pressured to drop out so they could run another corrupt Dem to fill his seat rather than risk losing it to a Republican. Where else but in a state where a mafia lawyer sat as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court could a Kennedy hope to survive.
Davis (c4595a) — 2/12/2010 @ 5:26 amI just want to get rid of Steny Hoyer. He’s made friends all over Maryland, I can’t tell you how many people I know who know him, people he’s done favors for over the years. People who normally think logically about politics but when it comes to Hoyer they are loyal because of those favors. I’ll give it to Hoyer, he’s been effective.
Vivian Louise (643333) — 2/12/2010 @ 5:32 amBye Bitch!!
geo (c4a3bf) — 2/12/2010 @ 5:33 amIt seems that, after long decades, the slow fading into obscurity of the Kennedy family has commenced.
Perhaps it won’t be very slow.
R.B. Glennie (058ee8) — 2/12/2010 @ 6:08 amI wonder when we’ll see the news story where Patrick drives off that high Interstate bridge in R.I. or that he’s officially moved out of R.I. to a state that doesn’t have income tax. He loves the idea of what he does in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
PCD (1d8b6d) — 2/12/2010 @ 6:12 amI blame the Ambien – it’s always the Ambien.
I just want to get rid of Steny Hoyer.
Vivian, while he’s popular right now, if his opponent just plays endless commercials of Steny condescendingly lecturing some protestors during his summer press conference on the health reform bill last year, it could work wonders. The sneering attitude, the overweening sense of entitlement, and his ultimate retort of “they had critics when they built the Erie Canal, too.” Lamest and most inaccurate analogy ever – what a douchebag.
Dmac (799abd) — 2/12/2010 @ 7:08 amGood for him and even better for the state of Rhode Island.
GeneralMalaise (4d34a1) — 2/12/2010 @ 7:39 amAce thinks his campaign slogan of “Less hookers, more blow” just wasn’t working for him.
Old Coot (ddf8be) — 2/12/2010 @ 8:53 amSo. Rats deserting a sinking ship? Or the feeling that in the next election, even “safe” seats aren’t?
Mike Giles (762afa) — 2/12/2010 @ 9:34 amI never believe the reason given for a decision to run or not run.
norcal (818f6f) — 2/12/2010 @ 12:17 pmThere are some interesting and quite sympathetic comments regarding Patrick Kennedy’s decision on NRO’s Corner. I suggest you read them.
SPQR (26be8b) — 2/12/2010 @ 12:26 pm