With eye to past glory, Democrats tap a Kennedy to rebut Trump

WASHINGTON DC, USA – US Democrats will roll out political royalty to respond to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday, January 30, in the form of congressman Joe Kennedy III, returning the family dynasty to the American spotlight.

The third term representative from Massachusetts will provide his party’s official rebuttal to Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress, providing the 37-year-old liberal with a national platform to push back publicly against the president on issues such as immigration, civil and transgender rights, health care and diversity.

While the role of opposition respondent is often seen as an unenviable one – recent responses including by Senator Marco Rubio in 2013 have been roundly mocked or ignored – it raises Kennedy’s profile at a time of American political turmoil, as investigations into Trump’s possible connections to Russia drag on.

With the party aiming to win big in midterm elections this year, several Democrats see Kennedy as a potential future flagbearer. 

But as he makes his debut on the national stage, he will be walking the fine line of criticizing the president while seeking to persuade independents and conservatives dissatisfied with Trump’s performance.

“My hope is to make the argument for a country where every one of us is guaranteed the social and economic justice we deserve,” said Kennedy, who will deliver his address Tuesday night from a high school in Fall River, Massachusetts.

The red-maned lawmaker is the son of former congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II, the grandson of former attorney general, US senator and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, and the grandnephew of assassinated president John F. Kennedy.

He has gained a loyal following through a series of passionate speeches over the past year that went viral, including one viewed 15 million times in which he promoted diversity after a violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Inspirational oratory

Kennedy has also embraced the cause of health care, an issue championed by his late great uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy. In March last year he delivered a stinging rebuttal to House Speaker Paul Ryan who spoke of the “mercy” of a Republican health care plan that ultimately failed in Congress.

“There’s no mercy in a country that turns their back on those most in need of protection: the elderly, the poor, the sick and the suffering,” Kennedy told a congressional panel.

The words caught the attention of several senior Democrats.

“Wow. This is a Kennedy who could be President. A must watch,” Howard Dean, a former governor, Democratic National Committee chairman and onetime presidential candidate, tweeted at the time.

Kennedy attended Stanford University and spent two years in the Dominican Republic as a Peace Corps volunteer. He then earned a law degree from Harvard and worked as an assistant district attorney in Massachusetts.

To date he has maintained a low political profile, and for many Americans it will be their first look at the newest rising star in the Kennedy constellation.

On Tuesday he will be under pressure to deliver inspirational oratory that became a hallmark of his forebears.

The Kennedy pick is a poignant one from a party whose current leaders are in their late 60s or 70s. It is a notable departure from last February, when Democrats tapped 72-year-old former Kentucky governor Steve Beshear to deliver the rebuttal to Trump’s first speech to Congress.

While he will not be in the House chamber for the State of the Union, Kennedy has invited a transgender soldier, Staff Sergeant Patricia King, as his guest to Trump’s speech. – Rappler.com