Kennedy Relative Jumps Into Politics

GILLIAN FLACCUS

Associated Press


SANTA MONICA, Calif. - When city officials demanded that Bobby Shriver trim the hedges around his posh home or face misdemeanor charges, the outraged Kennedy nephew did what came naturally - he jumped into politics.

Backed by his famous family - including his brother-in-law, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger - Shriver went on to wrap up the City Council election as the top vote-getter, leaving his extended clan wondering whether they should have nudged him toward the family business a little sooner.

"Landslide Bob, that's my nickname," said Shriver, 50, who heads an AIDS foundation called DATA. "Now they're asking me, why did I make them all work so hard for a landslide?"

Not content to rely on family star power alone, the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of 1972 vice presidential nominee R. Sergeant Shriver flooded city mailboxes with a series of glossy "issues" fliers on homelessness, traffic and the environment.

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