It has been fascinating watching the quiet, yet very public, endorsement game going on within the Kennedy clan. Naturally, as an Obama supporter, I am glad to see that the biggest names in the family (Caroline, Ted, and Maria Shriver) are on my team. But it is worth noting that some of RFK's children are firmly in the HRC camp. But does it mean anything?
The myth of Camelot is a strong one within the American psyche. I can only imagine what it must have been like to see the glamour couple of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy emerge on the political scene. They both had the proper pedigrees of upper-class American society (Choate & Harvard/Miss Porter's & Vassar (even though GWU gets to claim her)). They looked good, and they were relatively young. They seemed to represent at the time that which America could become in the dawning of the 1960s.
The Obamas have the proper pedigrees of a more meritocratic American society (Columbia & Harvard/Princeton & Harvard). They look good, and they are relatively young. They seem to represent what American can become in the 21st century.
Essentially, there are comparative relationships that can be made. I do think that the Obamas, much more so than the Clintons, represent forward movement for the nation, as the Kennedys did in their time. However, all of these Kennedy references make me nervous. I don't want the anointed as POTUS. I don't think that too much can really be made about those comparative relationships between the Obamas and the Kennedys. They are different people from different times.
I hope that, if I can dare to dream it, if Obama is given the chance to serve as POTUS, that he will surpass any expectation that was ever had for Camelot. Perhaps those Kennedys who have decided to support his campaign feel the same way.
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If one thinks it essential that a Democrat occupy the Oval Office, then Obama would appear to be the logical way forward at this time. National polls have him ahead of McCain (the presumptive Republican Nominee) 48%to45%. Right now Hillary draws even at 46%to46% in nationwide polling and she (individually and as part of team Clinton) tends to create an atmosphere of divisiveness rather than the inclusive Obama air of hope.
For those who find the idea a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq to be a reckless proposition (both morally and as a matter of National Security), both Hillary and Barack will have to continue to provide reassurance that withdrawal will take place in a way that assuages such fear and provides recognition of the Powell "Pottery Barn" rule.
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