Patrick Kennedy won't run for reelection

[FourScore]

Source: The Providence Journal

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy will not run for reelection, he will announce in a television advertisement to air Sunday night.

"I will not be a candidate for reelection this year," the 42-year-old Kennedy, first elected in 1994, said in an emotional advertisement that mentions his years of service and the death of his father, Sen.Edward M. Kennedy, last summer.

Read more: http://newsblog.projo.com/2010/02/-washington---rep-patrick-1.html

[Captain Hilts]

1. He's not been that great a rep for RI. He's periodically gotten into trouble. nt

[No Elephants]

20. Did he fail to bring RI its fair share of federal money, jobs, etc? That would be surprising,

given how his father performed on behalf of Massachusetts. I would assume some mentoring, tricks of the trade, etc. had been passed along.

[LaydeeBug]

29. He's been a CHAMPION for RI, and for Democrats

Oh, that's right, since he's not a repig, we can't call it 'youthful indiscretions'. :eyes:

[PoliticalOne65]

2. Just curious.

How long has it been since there wasn't a Kennedy in Washington?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. probably since the 30's

or so

[Tx4obama]

9. JFK first became a U.S. Representive January 3, 1947

2010 minus 1947 = 63 years there has been at least one Kennedy in D.C.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. JP Kennedy served in the FDR

administration, does that not count?

[Tx4obama]

15. Yea, if you count appointments and not just elections :) n/t

[Vidar]

28. He served as Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and

Ambassador to Britain, but was never in Congress or the Senate.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

30. yes, I know that

the question was "a kennedy in washington" not congress

[Vidar]

31. Fair enough.

[JI7]

6. the next Kennedy in DC will be that grandson of Teddy that we saw during the memorial

Ted Kennedy was rare. none of the other Kennedys right now seem to have what he had and what made him so popular. but that grandson seemed like he might have it.

it's not enough to have the Kennedy name.

[No Elephants]

18. I liked his brother a lot. He seemed caring, honest and intelligent, but shy in public.

Senator Bradley wrote in his book about how Democrats tend to focus on personality and that often does not work out well for them. Of course, that could have been because some say Bradley failed to get the Presidential nomination because his personality was not magnetic. (Negative charisma, as a relative of mine put it.)

Maybe someone without a terribly flashy public persona could be great at governing or legislating, but we'll never know unless they first get elected.

Then again, people seem to nominate and elect some mighty unappealing personalities, too, so I have no clue what conclusions to draw, if any.

:shrug:

[WriteDown]

14. There's the Governator! Although he's not in Washington.

Does he count?

[No Elephants]

19. You mean, Arnold Kennedy, of the Austrian branch of the Kennedy family? If we're counting crap, he .

counts a lot.

[WriteDown]

22. Maria seems to like him....

Always wondered what those family reunions were like.

[No Elephants]

24. That doesn't make him a Kennedy. (We all have our blind spots.)

[SomeGuyInEagan]

25. Always curious about the famous Kennedy compound football games once Arnold joined the family ...

... guessing if they were tackle, he got picked first more than once.

[No Elephants]

17. Depends. Are you counting Joe's appointments? Or starting with Jack's first election as Rep?

[tularetom]

3. Maybe he'll move to MA and run against the new GOP shiny toy in 2012?

[marshall]

5. The end of an era

Unless another Kennedy decides to step in.

[Matilda]

8. I thought that Teddy Jnr. spoke most impressively at his father's funeral.

And he has the looks, the personality, the humour as well.

Obviously, he doesn't have an interest or he would have made a run by now, but what a shame. I found him much
more appealing than his brother in every way.

[karynnj]

13. There were two twin sons of one of Bobby Kennedy's sons, Joe and Max (Matt?)

who were involved in getting people to vote for Obama in 2008. Here is a short clip of Joe at a rally in Hyannis on election eve. This is a rally Kennedy did every election - in 2008, he asked Kerry to do it. http://www.johnkerry.com/multimedia/entry/barnstable_democratic_town_committee_election_eve_rally_video/

Though it's not on the video clips, Kerry thanked him and though him his twin, who he spoke of as being up in NH.

[cal04]

7. Patrick Kennedy's Resignation (Video)

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/patrick-kennedys-resignation-ad-video.php?ref=fpblg
Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) announced his retirement from Congress tonight. Kennedy has served there since 1994. On Sunday, the Providence Journal reports, Kennedy will run a commercial during 60 Minutes announcing his decision to the people of Rhode Island. See the video after the jump.

[gauguin57]

11. When the camera went to him at the SOTU, Patrick looked like he'd aged 10 years.

Between his substance-abuse problems and his bereavement (can you imagine losing a presence in your life like Teddy Kennedy's?), he's really been through the ringer. And he looks it.

It can't be easy watching your father's life's work getting chipped away, day by day, as Congress chips away at health-care reform.

[No Elephants]

21. Not to mention a deceptive nitwit serving out the rest of his father's term.

[dugaresa]

12. personally I think he has to do what is right for himself

he has bipolar disorder if I recall and has had numerous problems with drugs and alcohol.

With the death of his father, I think that perhaps he needs time to get himself together.

Better that than for him to be under the pressure of working and sorting things out. Folks with bipolar disorder can rapidly break down under such pressure.

[Blue Owl]

16. it'll be weird without a Kennedy in office

End of an era, indeed.


:-(

[No Elephants]

23. Not so fast. There will be more Kennedys in office. Maybe not always federal office and maybe

not without a break in time. But any of the family who encountered Rose Kennedy was trained to public service.

(If not for Gov. Paterson, we might still have had a Senator Kennedy. sigh. But Gillebrand looks as though she is going in the right, er left, direction.)

[hughee99]

26. The era ended when Teddy died.

Patrick is no Teddy.

[Hekate]

27. He may have been in politics to please his dad; now that need is gone, and he'll have to...

... find some other way of life. Not all the Kennedys are politicians -- it only looks that way.

I wish him all the best; his dad's death was obviously hard on him.

Hekate

[hack89]

32. Good - he is a moron.

speaking as someone he represents.