Battenfeld: Hillary Clinton's Kennedy curse

Hillary Clinton could suffer a serious case of Kennedy deja vu if she makes another presidential run.

This time it’s U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III who may help derail Clinton’s White House path by endorsing her potential 2016 opponent, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, much the same way the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy backed Barack Obama in 2008.

“Whatever (Warren) wants to do she’s going to excel at,” the 34-year-old Kennedy said in interview with Herald editors and reporters. “She has been adamant that she’s not running for president and I take her at her word for that. If things change, we’ll see.”

The fact that Kennedy doesn’t dismiss a Warren run is significant and comes after his Massachusetts colleague, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, revealed to Boston Herald Radio that he told Warren he’d back her if she ran for president.

Kennedy could be an ace in the hole for Warren, the freshman Democrat who has energized liberals around the country with her attacks on greedy banks, Wall Street and Washington’s cozy relationship with lobbyists.

...While the Kennedys and Massachusetts Democrats have enjoyed a close relationship with the Clintons in the past, the state’s reputation as “Clinton Country” took a hit in 2008 when Sen. Kennedy abandoned the New York senator in her battle against Obama.

The Kennedy endorsement came after Obama suffered a damaging defeat to Clinton in New Hampshire. Obama has never forgotten that and the remnants of his White House team appears to firmly in Warren’s camp — not Hillary’s...

https://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/joe_battenfeld/2014/12/battenfeld_hillary_clintons_kennedy_curse