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WILLIE BROWN: Sen. Kennedy drew on S.F.'s Green Machine early
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 8/30/9 | Willie Brown

Posted on 08/30/2009 1:15:10 PM PDT by SmithL

Edward Kennedy was a rare political combination of talent and privilege.

The talent was the ability to connect with people one-on-one in an instant, an indispensable attribute in this business.

Like all great politicians, Edward was not only conversant with every issue, he also knew how to open a conversation in a very personal way.

Once we ran into each other after I had visited the site of China's historic Terracotta soldiers. He'd seen a photo of me there in the news.

"What were you doing with a bunch of dead people?" he asked.

He might talk to you about some vote you had just won or lost, or about the NCAA finals, or the Red Sox or the 49ers - but never anything serious in the opener.

Then, before you knew it, he was picking your brain for knowledge, and picking your pocket for political support.

As for the privilege, you all know the family story. But what few people know was that a lot of Kennedy's early political money came out of San Francisco.

He was the beneficiary of what we used to call the Green Machine - Walter Shorenstein, Adolph Schuman and Ben Swig, all heavy San Francisco Democratic contributors.

There was always some event at the Fairmont for Edward whenever he was in town, either in the ballroom or the back room.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: kennedy; sanfranciscovalues; willieworld
Life in Willie World.
1 posted on 08/30/2009 1:15:11 PM PDT by SmithL
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Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached for comment.


2 posted on 08/30/2009 1:15:27 PM PDT by SmithL (The Golden State demands all of your gold)
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To: SmithL
Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached for comment.

I've seen variations on this comment so many times that I have begun to wonder if there is any evidence that Miss Kopechne was a saintly, chaste, apprentice-secretary, novice who really thought she was just getting a ride home from a sitting senator or whether she was loose and immoral as you might expect from someone who worked in Bobby's back room.

3 posted on 08/30/2009 2:51:03 PM PDT by HIDEK6
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To: HIDEK6

Does it matter weather she was moral or immoral? She was killed because a POS was too worried about weather his career would be effected or not. Bottom line, he was a coward and she did not deserve to die. Also you can bet the farm he was drunk as well. He walked on this because the scumbags that make up the power elite don’t care about any one but themselves. The press can write what they want, but any one with any intelligence knows the truth.


4 posted on 08/30/2009 3:23:27 PM PDT by JimC214
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To: JimC214

No. Whether she was a nun or a hooker had nothing to do with kennedy’s culpability.


5 posted on 08/30/2009 3:30:55 PM PDT by HIDEK6 (T.")
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