THE BODY ISN'T EVEN COLD - AT 10:22 A.M. ET:   Look, it's politics.  Kennedy is gone.  They'll bury him at Arlington on Saturday.  As we said yesterday, the race to succeed him has already started.  In fact, it's probably been going on for months.  The Politico covers:

The course of the Senate race, however, may be determined by the intentions of other Kennedy family members who may have an interest in succeeding the patriarch— with his widow, Vicki, and his nephew, former Democratic Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, most often mentioned as possible contenders.

I don't know.  Is the brand still that hot?  Some think it is:

“They’re not merely the shoe to drop. They’re the whole shoe store,” said Tufts University political science professor Jeffrey Berry. “The race doesn’t begin until they declare whether they’re in or out. If one of them runs, they’d suck up all of the oxygen in the room.”

And some think it isn't:

Earlier this year, Caroline Kennedy withdrew from consideration for the vacant Senate seat in New York after receiving negative press while testing the waters. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Mark Shriver recently lost campaigns in Maryland.  Businessman Chris Kennedy recently turned down recruitment efforts for him to run for the Senate in Illinois.

I lean toward the second position.  I think recent history shows the Kennedy brand is fading.  All political brands do.  The Roosevelt name really didn't last very long after FDR's death, although the behavior of some of his kids didn't help.  And there's no great public wanting of another Bush.  The Longs of Louisiana are history.  Americans, after love affairs with families, turn away from dynasties.

So we'll wait for the list of candidates.  No one stands out as obvious.

August 27, 2009