As Beto O’Rourke fades from the picture, under the perilous weight of his native inconsequence, it may be time to examine the unhappy fates and perilous fortunes of those labeled “Kennedyesque.”
There are only three Kennedys who make this a compliment. The first is Joe Jr., son No. 1, who died at 29 in 1944 in a suicide mission. John, of course, was shot to death in 1963 during his third year as president. Bobby was shot while trying to take back the White House, six years or so after that.
Those who came after were not much to speak of, whether family members or strangers who happened to look, talk, or act like the Kennedys.
It took barely a year after Bobby was shot for Ted to blow his future into small pieces. He crashed his car and left his passenger to die while he devised a way to avoid responsibility.
The torch was then passed to the next generation, mainly the children of Bobby. None of then had much talent for politics, but they were driven to try it because of “The Name.”
Because of The Name, Kathleen ran for governor of Maryland and was washed out in the 2002 Republican landslide.
Because of The Name, her brother Joe ran in 1986 and won JFK’s old district in Boston. But he left it 12 years later. He suspended his own run for governor when it emerged that one of his brothers, Michael, had been carrying on with a teenage nanny since she was 14 years old. Her mother later attempted to kill herself. Michael did himself shortly thereafter, when in the course of a skiing vacation, he opened his head on a tree.
Because of The Name, Ted’s younger son Patrick, an alcoholic in his teens like both of his parents, went into politics while still in college, hoping to form a bond with his father in the one thing his father loved best. That it did not work as planned is shown by the fact that he left politics as soon as he could upon the death of his father, figuring that if politics failed him as therapy, therapy might end his addiction to politics. Sober six years, he heads a foundation dealing with addiction and mental health issues. He’s making a difference at last.
Nothing could make the sometimes overmatched members of the third generation of Kennedys into tough and successful career politicians. Nothing could make the mundane and too-liberal next generation of Democrats into the tough and committed aspirational centrists the first Kennedy brothers had been.
“Kennedyesque,” in this sense, stands for “Kennedy Lite,” under the lash of the dominant wing of the party where sensitivity holds sway over all. “Kennedyesque” in 2004 was presidential nominee John Forbes Kerry, playing up his initials and like-sounding name, playing up his (very) short stint in Vietnam. “Kennedyesque” in 1988 was Gary Hart, who worked for George McGovern but imitated JFK’s manner and moves down to the very last gesture. “Kennesdyesque” in 2018 was O’Rourke, whose 46 years in prolonged adolescence appear to have earned him, in the minds of some, comparison to Bobby. By that same age, John Kennedy had spent three years at war, six in the House, eight in the Senate, and two-plus as president (including the missile and civil rights crises). By his 46th birthday, Bobby had been dead for three years.
Democrats should stare at this word and ponder its meaning. And then swear not to use it again.
