Hillary worked "intensely" to win Kennedy's endorsement

[ProSense]

A few weeks ago, right after John Kerry endorsed Barack Obama, we reported here that the Hillary campaign was working intensely to win over Kerry's fellow Senator from Massachusetts. The idea was that a Teddy Kennedy endorsement of Hillary would take the steam out of comparisons between Obama and J.F.K.

link

[Radical Activist]

1. ouch

The SC win started an avalanche

[neutron]

22. The MA Rat Pack

Sticks together, lady.
Now Get lost.

[neutron]

26. Robert Kennedy Jr. Supports Hillary Clinton

And he's worked incredibly hard for environmental causes.

[Spiffarino]

36. That one surprised me

I didn't think he'd go for Hillary...too corporate. His "Ring of Fire" radio show co-host, Mike Papantonio, doesn't appear to think much of her. He's more of an Edwards guy.

[jasmine621]

48. Is he the one working to get heating oil to poor or is it another? nt

[jasmine621]

49. I think Ted Kennedy's endorese of Hillary would have hurt her more

than it helps Obama. TK is seen as part of that past that Obama wants to forget and move away from. Just think what Rush Limbaugh would have done with a TK endorsement of Hillary. I glad he didn't endorse Hillary. I know the RW media all too well.

[thunder rising]

2. Ain't enough lipstick to cover the pig.

[maddiejoan]

3. OMG

How evil and disgusting of Hillary to work on getting an endorsement from Ted Kennedy!

Will she stop at nothing?

[calico1]

4. I know! She should be kicked out of the party!

:crazy:

[ProSense]

6. Who said it was disgusting? I'm sure she's disappointed. n/t

[maddiejoan]

9. So what's the point of your post?

[ProSense]

18. To point out that she worked really hard to get it, but didn't. Is that so hard to understand? n/t

[maddiejoan]

23. Do you post these for all endorsements?

[ProSense]

27. When they are reported:

here.

What is your beef?

It's a simple post, making a point (that Hillary really wanted Kennedy's endorsement, but didn't get it) and you appear disjointed by that fact.

[maddiejoan]

29. I'm not at all disjointed about it.

It's your framing.

Do you post similarly when Obama doesn't get a nomination?

[ProSense]

33. "Do you post similarly when Obama doesn't get a nomination?"

You can find and post those if you want to.

As for framing, your first comment implied (cynically) that the point of the OP was to represent Hillary's actions as "evil and disgusting."

[thunder rising]

7. Yeah, endorsements are not "worked" or triangulated, except in Clinton world

they offered and given by the person or entity based on the factors the giver finds admirable in the candidate. I just have to wonder what the deal making looked like.

[maddiejoan]

11. You live inside a Frank Capra movie?

That's all I can get from your post.

[Lerkfish]

31. Hey! I LIKE Capra movies...which one are you referring to?

he made several so hard to tell.

[maddiejoan]

32. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Frank Capra movies

in this case --obviously --Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.

My favorite is "Meet John Doe"

[cboy4]

19. It's despicable.

:eyes:

[neutron]

24. He should have endorsed her

He knows she's the strongest candidate.
Must be a lot of petty jealousy amongst senior male senators.

[Spiffarino]

37. self delete

Put this in the wrong place...sorry

[gateley]

5. As Obama said, what Dem candidate WOULDN'T love to have Teddy's endorsement?

Obama said that he himself had been working hard at receiving it, so I'm sure they all do.

Biden said that right after he announced his withdrawal, he got requests for endorsements and a request from another candidate to NOT endorse anybody. It seems to be part of the package.

[yardwork]

10. I can think of a LOT of Democratic candidates who wouldn't want Teddy's name

associated with them.

[dkf]

12. When a candidate reveres JFK and RFK...

they want Teddy Kennedy's endorsement. End of Story.

[yardwork]

21. Not unless they have zero understanding of national politics.

[K Gardner]

14. There it is.. right on time ! Kennedy bashing begins !

[yardwork]

20. I'm not bashing. I'm reporting. I respect Ted Kennedy, but most of my neighbors don't.

I grew up in the midwest and live in the south, and I'm here to tell you that if you think that Bill Clinton is disliked in these parts, you can't imagine how people feel about Kennedys. AGain, I don't agree with them, but there's no reasoning with these folks.

[mzmolly]

38. As another member of the "Midwest" I disagree completely.

:shrug:

[dkf]

46. People in the south hate JFK and RFK?

Do they? I didn't know that.

[babylonsister]

15. Name one. nt

[yardwork]

17. Anyone who understands how the game is played.

Kennedy endorsements hurt in the south and midwest. The south will probably vote Republican in the GE anyway, but the Democratic candidate must win in the midwest to win in the GE.

I don't agree with them, but a lot of white people in the south and midwest have a strong visceral hatred of all Kennedys. Just the thought of Ted Kennedy gets them all worked up and before you know it they've voted Republican again.

[babylonsister]

25. So you can't name one. And FTR, isn't SC in the south? It's really not

a foregone conclusion the south will vote rethug, especially after seeing the success of the past 8 years. Maybe people do recognize we need a change.
And I've never seen any statistics about the Kennedy hatred in the south; that's a new one on me.

[yardwork]

28. You are uninformed.

[babylonsister]

30. So inform me. nt

[yardwork]

35. I grew up in the midwest and live in the south.

Whites in those regions have been taught to hate and fear "liberals," and they've been taught that Teddy Kennedy is the biggest liberal of all. It's not rational. It's not reasonable. It's an indication of how effective the mainstream media and Republican machine has been in twisting the truth and brainwashing most people living in the south and midwest.

Until the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s the south and much of the midwest was reliably Democratic. The southern Democrats hated Republicans because they perceived them as the party of Abe Lincoln and "The War of Northern Aggression," which is how schoolbooks in the south referred to the Civil War. (I'm just reporting here.)

Until the Civil Rights Movement, the south - and many parts of the midwest - were vicious, horrible places for black people. They weren't allowed to vote. Poll taxes, literacy test, and strong intimidation kept them from the polls or ensured that they voted the way their employers' told them to vote. You've seen the photos of lynchings in the midwest and south? That happened in living memory. White people had all the power. They could destroy anyone who tried to change the system.

When JFK signed the Civil Rights bills, that began to change, and a lot of southern and midwestern whites have never forgiven the Kennedys for that. The Republican Party saw an opportunity and their "Southern Strategy" changed the south and midwest into a reliably Republican vote.

One would think that assassinations of JFK and RFK, not to mention Martin Luther King, Jr., would generate sympathy. No, the hatred - fanned by the media - is just too deep. Teddy Kennedy is reviled, along with all the other "northern Yankee liberals."

It's sad. It's pathetic. I hate it. It's part of what makes me discouraged about this country.

[babylonsister]

40. Thank you for taking the time to inform me.

I can only hope that the younger people from those states have gotten beyond those feelings and some evidence would suggest that, like the overwhelming turnout by the younger people yesterday. The total turnout for Dems vs. rethugs cleaned the rethugs' clock.

[yardwork]

41. Those are two very good trends, I agree.

[Radical Activist]

44. Lieberman

[babylonsister]

47. But he's not a Democrat. nt

[Alexander]

16. But the Shillbot Kennedy bashers told me Teddy was poison! It must be true!

:rofl:

They're just jealous because Hillary didn't get his endorsement.

[grantcart]

8. CNN reported that the Clinton campaign was saying

that Kennedy will be endorsing Obama

[Historic NY]

13. Ted Kennedy will endorse Obama

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/01/27/clinton-camp-ted-kennedy-will-endorse-obama/

[Clarkansas]

34. Of course she did.

Any Dem candidate would appreciate an endorsement from TK.

[Spiffarino]

39. It concerns me that her colleagues aren't endorsing her

She's a strong campaigner and has the backing of a powerful ex-president. What is it about her candidacy that U.S. Senators can't get behind?

Is it that they simply don't like her? Do they sense a fundamental weakness in her candidacy? These are the questions I'd like to ask of the Senators who are endorsing another candidate. The problem is, you'd never get a real answer because, according to custom, they have to "play nice" with other Senators.

[Bullet1987]

45. Because Obama is more viable in the GE than she is...

[Laurab]

51. I'm guessing she doesn't "play" well with others.

And, as you know, the powerful ex-president does happen to be her husband, so there's no question of who he would back. I also believe they might feel she can't win the GE. Senators would probably like to ensure that they would be listened to by the President, and perhaps they think Hillary wouldn't be as open to ideas as Obama.

Those are my guesses, of course I don't know for sure, but I would think they would want to support someone who they thought could be elected in the GE, and also be liked by more than 49-50% of the country.

[Nimrod2005]

42. Hillary is no Presidential material....nt

[usregimechange]

43. Glad to have the Liberal Lion on board...

[dailykoff]

50. Without the Kennedys the Clintons are dust in the wind.

Polite way of saying yesterday's trash.