Why any Republican brings him up as a good example of a President is beyond comprehension.
I agree - but I can understand the motivation.
If you want to make a point and demonstrate the vapid shallowness of the current Democrat Presidential candidate - its easier to contrast him against a Dem icon, without pointing out that said icon was also very flawed....(because then you have to start laying out fairly lengthy records and explanations -- and you quickly lose the audience). I think Rush made the point he intended to make.
As a human being, maybe. Though really, we know a lot more now about Jack's adventures than Teddy's. Ted could have been a lot worse than anyone knows.
But politically, Kennedy was more conservative than today's Democrats. Even in his own day, he wasn't that liberal, and was criticized for it by the left.
"What JFK would do now" is nonsense. He would have followed his family and his party leftwards and do and say what they do and say. But it doesn't hurt to point out that in his own day a Democrat icon was far from the party's current beliefs.