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By JACK COLEMAN
U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's drive toward war with Iraq, believes United Nations inspections should continue and war would make Americans less safe from terrorists. Kennedy voted against the congressional resolution in October that authorized Bush to invade Iraq. In a Jan. 21 speech at the National Press Club, Kennedy said "the threat from Iraq is not imminent, and it will distract America from the two more immediate threats to our security - the clear and present danger of terrorism and the crisis with North Korea. "The far more likely reality is than an assault against Iraq, especially without broad international support, will not advance the defeat of al-Qaida, but undermine it," Kennedy warned, saying it could "quickly spin out of control and engulf other nations in the region, too." Kennedy's son, U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., has a different position on tensions in the Persian Gulf. He voted in favor of the congressional authorization for war, saying it was "a national security imperative" to prevent Saddam from acquiring nuclear weapons. Saddam "does not view weapons of mass destruction merely as deterrents," Kennedy said on the House floor Oct. 10, "but rather as offensive weapons to be used to further his quest for power and give him leverage over the United States."
"The senator actually grilled the congressman on his position and asked him all the possible questions," Anguilla said. "Afterwards, the senator said, 'well, he answered all the questions.'" The two Kennedys agree more often than they disagree, said Anguilla. They have lunch together once a week and talk on a regular basis. "Having been in Congress almost a decade, Congressman Kennedy makes his own decisions based on what is best for his constituency and what he sees as important in setting the course of this nation," said Stephanie Cutter, an aide to Sen. Kennedy. After the vote on the Iraqi resolution in October, a Providence Journal-Bulletin reporter wrote a story saying Patrick Kennedy shared more in common with his uncle, the late John F. Kennedy, than with his father. "I'm inclined to agree with that," Anguilla said. "President Kennedy did use the military when it was warranted. Congressman Kennedy has said all along that the military option is a last resort, but it should be kept on the table."
Edward Kennedy and his siblings were not inclined to publicly disagree with their parents, Dallek said. Dallek is finishing a biography, "An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963," that is due out May 13. "You did have a degree of loyalty that was unbreachable" to the Kennedy elders, Dallek said. "But 40 years is a long time and a lot has changed and the family is hardly a uniform or single unit any more. "There has been so much pain and suffering in that family," Dallek said. "Not that they don't support each other, but they each have to help themselves to some extent. "I think this is a time when a younger member of the brood, who is staking out his political future, might feel compelled to get some distance from his father," Dallek said. Falmouth resident Phil F. Mackey Jr., who worked in the Kennedy White House, thinks Patrick Kennedy has decided it is time for him to establish a separate political identity within the family. "He wants to show that he has a mind of his own, that he doesn't always march to the beat of his father," said Mackey, who is working on U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry's campaign for president. "He hasn't had the smoothest of rides in Rhode Island." Boston political analyst Jon Keller points out that Patrick's cousin, Joseph P. Kennedy II, did not always defer to his uncle while in Congress. Joseph Kennedy voted in favor of the balanced budget amendment, which was opposed by Edward Kennedy. Joseph Kennedy also broke with a long-standing family position and came out in favor of the death penalty. "At least in the cases of Joe and Patrick, the new generation of Kennedys takes its political cues more from its own experiences and constituencies than from some doctrinaire family 'legacy,'" Keller said.
Sen. Kennedy, once a strong supporter of a U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, has called for lifting restrictions on food, medicine and travel to Cuba. Patrick Kennedy wants the embargo to continue. The two Kennedys also disagree on their candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004. The elder Kennedy backs Senate colleague Kerry, while Patrick Kennedy supports fellow House member Richard Gephardt, who formally announced his candidacy last month. New York Times political reporter Adam Clymer, who wrote a book about Edward Kennedy in 1999, downplayed the significance of father and son disagreeing on candidates for president. Edward Kennedy is unlikely to support anyone but Kerry since they come from the same state, said Clymer, who was at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston over the weekend for a presidential tapes conference. Kennedy also supported fellow Bay State politicians Michael Dukakis and Paul Tsongas when they ran for president in 1988 and 1992, Clymer said. "In neither case was it with the energy that he supported Al Gore" in 2000, Clymer said. "And we'll see how much energy there is in his support for Kerry." (Published: March 3, 2003) |
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Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) voted against the resolution authorizing U.S. military action. 