Posted on 12/12/2001 7:18:00 PM PST by Jean S
Alarmed by sagging poll numbers for Rep. Patrick Kennedy (R.I.), one of the Democratic Party’s brightest young stars and most prolific fundraisers, House Democratic leaders have helped steer nearly $90 million in federal projects to his district.
The wide array of government handouts for Kennedy’s district includes: $8.3 million for the development of the Deerfield Park and Smithfield Senior Center; $5.6 million for highway and transportation improvement structures; $4 million for a life sciences building at Brown University; and $150,000 for the Trinity Repertory Company’s Theater.
Kennedy listed these and other projects in a four-page flier recently mailed to constituents at public expense. Kennedy claimed he has laden the latest versions of the congressional spending bills with projects totaling just under $90 million, a number that is all the more remarkable considering this is his first year serving on the Appropriations Committee.
The mailing follows a September poll conducted by Brown University’s Taubman Center for Public Policy that shows Kennedy’s approval rating has dropped 21 percentage points since February of 2000, including seven points since February of this year. At the same time, the ratings for Rhode Island’s other House member and two senators have risen since Sept. 11.
Darrell West, a political science professor at Brown University, said Kennedy’s decline in popularity is linked to his involvement in two minor scandals that occurred last year.
In March Kennedy was caught on video shoving an airport security guard. Several months later, in December, reports surfaced detailing a dispute Kennedy had with a female companion on board a rented yacht off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. The tiff required intervention from the Coast Guard.
West said Kennedy’s sometimes prolonged absences from the district exacerbated the political damage of those incidents.
Kennedy’s poll numbers have already attracted three Republican challengers, making 2002 likely to be his most difficult reelection campaign since he was first elected in 1994.
The loss of Kennedy, who raised nearly $100 million in the last election cycle as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), would dampen Democratic hopes of recapturing control of the House, and could cripple future fundraising.
“I think it would be devastating if we lose that seat,” said Tom Erickson, a Democratic fundraiser who worked with Kennedy. “He’s an amazing draw. He’s gotten much better with his roadwork and staying on message. People are still enamored with the Kennedys. Not having him here would be problematic for our fundraising.”
Kennedy declined comment on his approval ratings or the millions in projects headed for his district, saying he will only discuss the matter with Rhode Island reporters.
“I don’t want to show my hand there either because I don’t want to get [the congressional] crowd all excited and undoing the things I’ve done,” he told The Hill. “I don’t want [Majority Leader] Dick Armey [R-Texas] or [Majority Whip] Tom DeLay [R-Texas] angry at me and zeroing things out in conference.”
Kennedy’s Republican challengers include Mike Battles, a former Army Ranger captain and CIA operative, and David Rogers, a former Navy seal who participated in the invasion of Panama and now works for an environmental services company. Christy Ferguson, a former aide to the late Sen. John Chafee (R-R.I.), is challenging Kennedy as well.
The $90 million in projects heading for his district translates into roughly $175 in additional federal spending per constituent.
As a measure of comparison, David Williams of Citizens Against Government Waste points out that last year residents of West Virginia received $128 in pork barrel funds per capita. West Virginia is represented by Sen. Robert Byrd (D), an acknowledged master of steering federal funds to his constituents.
However, Kennedy’s prowess as a fundraiser and the many demands on his time as he seldom turned down a request to help fellow Democrats has taken a political toll by keeping him away from his district.
To mend fences back home, Kennedy resigned his position as DCCC chairman to focus on constituent services, but his numbers have failed to improve.
“His people are concerned that he spent all his time in the state and it did not produce higher poll numbers,” said West. “This year he has spent a lot of time in the district. He has scheduled a lot of events and had a lot of press. People are surprised his numbers have dropped.”
“[Kennedy] chose to be chairman of the DCCC [and] that’s a very dangerous thing,” said Rogers. “People expect our representatives to be present in the district. Constituent services virtually didn’t exist [prior to this year].”
Rogers noted that Kennedy’s opponent in 2000 received 33 percent of the vote despite raising only $8,600.
Battles’ campaign chairman, Mike Trainor, also criticized Kennedy for not paying enough attention to the district. “Battles sees him as someone who is increasingly disconnected and who has spent a lot of time raising money for Democrats around the country,” he said.
“He has consistently shown that he has another agenda well apart from the needs of the 1st District,” Trainor added.
Whoever wins the Republican primary will likely receive much help from the national Republican fundraising committees.
And that's why pork works for politicians.
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