Patrick Kennedy said he expects his brother, Teddy Jr., could announce a decision before Tuesday

this part might present a problem."Connecticut-based brother "

From the article...

that is where he is registered to vote.If not, expect ti to be an issue in the coming election.

the house that President Kennedy did, he's not a fulltime resident. How long would he have to reside in MA before he could declare legal residence?

And would it be better for Patrick to declare him as the interim Senator prior to the special election or should a non-candidate hold that spot? Again, I'm not sure of the rules on this. It would seem that serving in the interim would splinter time away from campaigning, but it'd give the person a jump start on the actual day-to-day of the senate.

In some nostaligc sort of way, Ted Kennedy can be back in the senate seat where Bay Staters believe he belongs.

This is very good news, Tx4Obama. Thank you for sharing. I believe he will run.

Oh please let it happen!

keeping my fingers crossed with you, tblue. But I believe he will run. It's an honor to be approached by the Democratic Party to take his father's seat and it's his for the taking.

on referring to it being "the Kennedy seat"...that's why the 'pugs were able to clobber us with the "it's The People's Seat" meme.

it would not be the seat his father held (Brown is in that seat).

"..including former Connecticut Gov. Lowell Weicker Jr., urging him to consider running in the anticipated special election."


"Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. sticks the boots to former friend Linda McMahon"

http://www.cagesideseats.com/2012/9/14/3332500/lowell-p-weicker-jr-sticks-the-boots-to-former-friend-linda-mcmahon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_P._Weicker,_Jr.

Here's to Teddy Jr making the right choice for him and his family.. I can see why he might feel he is being called to Service.

what qualifies him, other than his name?

Is he smart? Is he capable?

I can't think of a Kennedy I don't love. But is the name enough to let him join the most exclusive club in the world? Personally, I want Barney Frank, but he's ruled it out. But I'd take Ed Markey.

Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_M._Kennedy,_Jr.

A bit thin but I suspect more will be added to the page once the media starts talking about him more in the next few days.

He's a rich banker. I'm sure he's great on social issues. But what makes him qualified for the Senate? He has no political experience whatsoever.

I would love it if he won a House seat and served a few terms.

I want to be clear that I don't oppose him- I'm just questioning if he's the best possible option.

one example is Senator Al Franken - and he has turned out to be a very good senator.

Another example is Teddy Kennedy Sr. - he never held office before being sworn in as a U.S. Senator.

Pretty much ALL of the Kennedys have money - so we should hold that against them.

Teddy Jr. grew up at the knee of his father - I suspect he knows more about politics (and the inside scoop of the congress) than half of the folks that run nowadays.

Case in point: me.

I have never sought elective office, never been a member of the press or anything remotely related. HOWEVER:

My father was a prominent D.C. print journalist, opened one of the very first one-man Washington bureaus for a rural small town in 1950, when it was almost unheard-of. That town was on the St. Lawrence Seaway, so he interacted with Senators and Congressmen from Great Lakes states all his life. From 1950 to 2000, that meant heavy personal interaction with people with names like Humphrey, Mondale, Ford, Dewey, Javits, Cuomo, Trudeau & Chrétien (from Canada), Kennedy (Bobby Sr.), Moynihan, dozens of others. I thought "Senator" was a common first name among my dad's friends when I was little. Pierre Salinger was a near-neighbor while he was JFK's press secretary. My dad's cousin was Caroline Kennedy's tutor while she was a tot in the White House. My first visit to the White House to meet a sitting president was in 1965 with LBJ. His career-long friends included legends like Art Buchwald, Jack Anderson and Helen Thomas.

In other words, I grew up living and breathing politics even if I was never a player personally. Running for office from Texas would be useless these days for me, but if you look at Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, if you asked me if I think I could better represent the interests of the PEOPLE of Texas in the U.S. Senate than either of them, I'd say probably.

Thanks for sharing it.

I tend to say what's on my mind--not the best way to get elected as a Democrat in Texas these days!

Of course people without experience have served. But no experience isn't a plus. Be a mayor... serve in the house... I'm not saying he'd be a bad Senator. But I wouldn't hire a guy with no experience to be a senior manager

and Teddy Jr. being a lawyer has a 'legal education' which is more than 'some' of the other U.S. Senators.

Senator Elizabeth Warren held no elected office before and Democrats are thrilled with her

If Teddy Jr. decides to run I'll support him even though I won't be able to vote

In fact what makes any of the hundred Senators qualified.Especally the way there acting in Washington

And, she won without being a Kennedy. I don't see the issue here.

He's laid low for awhile...it's probably his time now.

Joseph P. Kennedy II, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_P._Kennedy_II

He matured a LOT, obviously, but I don't know if he was really suited for the type of life Congress requires one to have. I was surprised as hell when it was he that ran for Congress first instead of his younger brother, Bobby, jr (whom I actually knew better). But then Bobby, Jr. had some personal issues later on that would have been serious ammunition for a Republican opponent, even in Massachusetts, so he chose another path for himself--one that he has excelled in, as it turns out.

I just don't want Scott Brown to win again.

Brown could possibly win, it's not beyond the realm of possibility.

So it would be better to let Brown flame out on a lesser-known
candidate than for a high-caliber Kennedy candidate to risk
defeat.

If Brown had not been a recent incumbent Senator and won a
special election in the state, I'd be all for it.

Let's face it, there's about a 50-50 chance for any political candidate to win or lose in a two-person race. Just because Brown was essentially a default candidate back in 2010 and again at this point shouldn't deter an eager person who sincerely wants to serve. The Kennedy name is well known and has been respected by MA voters for a long time. It wouldn't be a lock, certainly, but it seems to me that Ted Kennedy, Jr. is as well known a name as Scott Brown's was when he first entered the senate campaign. Who the hell ever heard of him before he ran? Nobody except the people that got a gander at his naked centerfold spread ever heard of him before that. And most of those folks probably forgot they'd ever seen him before, truth be told. The worst thing that could happen in the fight for this seat on either side would be for multiple candidates to throw their hats in. The Dems need to rally behind one candidate from the jump to mobilize stat. Runoffs and contention prior to the actual election would be a disaster IMO, because I think on the rethug's side Brown is a shoe-in if he indicates he wants to run, as I think everyone else will defer to him.

For goodness sake, the Naked Man just got beat once and could certainly get beat again. Why this white flagging? It is entirely COWARDLY.

on a playground in Kensington Park, London, in 2000 when we were spending a teaching semester abroad with our two kids.

My husband approached him and expressed that we were Mass. natives and admirers of his father and uncles. He was very friendly and gracious (I'm always a little worried about invading someone's private life) and asked us if there was anything special going on in town that they might do with the children.

Overall, he seemed like a very nice, down to earth guy. I have no idea about his level of preparation, but it's got to be better than the average person. Also there is the support network of his extended family and political friends.

And I believe he' d win. He's intelligent, personable and comfortable on camera and in interviews I've seen. I think he has been involved in the party, although not to seek office before now. He's not just a Kennedy but Teddy's son, so he knows more about politics and govt than most of DU put together. He hasn't had anything scandalous in his past that I can remember, and losing his leg to bone cancer as a youth is the only thing I remember that became a news story at all. I' d love to see him run and win.

bunch of other dems who can do the job. It's good to see a new generation of Kennedys going into politics.