|
| |
| |
| RFK inspired supporters like no other
Thursday, June 5, 2008
In this era of perpetual political campaigns, in this season of the almost-never-ending Democratic primary, it may be surprising to know that one of Americas most inspired and remembered primary campaigns lasted only 82 days. That campaign ended 40 years ago today when Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California.
Kennedy was only 42 years-old the day he died. His political career began in 1952 when he managed JFKs first campaign for the U.S. Senate. He later served as his brothers attorney general and as a U.S. senator from New York. Kennedys critics suggested that he was too young and inexperienced to be attorney general then later charged that he was a carpetbagger for moving to New York to run and win a Senate seat. His detractors even questioned the timing of his campaign for president. After saying under no circumstances would he run against President Johnson in 1968, Kennedy entered the race only four days after Sen. Eugene McCarthy exposed Johnsons vulnerability during the New Hampshire Primary.
Kennedy attracted and inspired supporters like no candidate before, or since. Tom Wicker of The New York Times described a day campaigning with Kennedy in California, The crowds surge in alarmingly, children leap and shriek and grown men risk the wheels of Kennedys car just to pound his arm or grasp his hand. In Vanity Fair Thurston Clarke described the scene following Kennedys first campaign appearance at Kansas State University, Waves of students rushed the platform, knocking over chairs. They grabbed at him, stroking his hair and ripping at his shirtsleeves.
Short-lived campaign
During his short-lived campaign, Kennedy spoke passionately about race, poverty, and the war in Vietnam. Kennedy arrived in Indianapolis only hours after Martin Luther Kings murder to address a largely African-American crowd of supporters. Kennedys remarks, made without the benefit of notes, lamented the future of race relations in the United States. It is perhaps well to ask what kind of nation we are and what direction we want to move in ... we could move in that direction as a country in great polarization black people amongst black, white people among white, said Kennedy. Today, 40 years after King and Kennedys deaths there is a growing divide between whites and blacks in this country. The contest between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton brings that divide into focus. The last five major primary states: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia paint a vivid picture of the polarization of race in the Democratic Party. According to exit polling conducted by CBS News in those five states more than 63 percent of whites voted for Clinton and nearly 90 percent of blacks voted for Obama.
The divide is even more troubling in the criminal justice system. According to Human Rights Watch, blacks comprise 13 percent of the national population, but 30 percent of people arrested, 41 percent of people in jail, and 49 percent of those in prison. Nine percent of all black adults are under some form of correctional supervision (in jail or prison, on probation or parole), compared to 2 percent of white adults. One in 10 black men in their 20s and early 30s is in prison or jail.
The plight of those living in poverty has gained even less attention. Former North Carolina Senator and 2004 vice presidential nominee, John Edwards, made eradicating poverty the cornerstone of his campaign for president in 2008. Edwards, and his war on poverty, limped through the early primaries and vanished before January had ended.
Flaws
Robert F. Kennedy was not without flaws. Nor was the man he paid tribute to on that cool April night only two months before his own death. In Americas modern political climate, a flaw in a leaders personal or public life can cause an accomplished body of work to evaporate in a matter of days or even hours. Sen. Edward Kennedys stoic eulogy admonished that, My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life.
The sudden tragic death of a vibrant young leader will inevitably lead to myth and adulation. In life, as in death, Kennedy was more substance than myth. He did, in his short political career, what few politicians would do today. He went after corruption in the labor movement, he challenged an incumbent president from his own party, and admitted his mistake in support of Americas early involvement in Vietnam. As Edward Kennedy said (He) saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.
X Matthew T. Mangino is the former district attorney of Lawrence County and a featured columnist for the Pennsylvania Law Weekly.
|
| |
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
