Word: townsend
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...been a rough political season for the Kennedy mystique. In last week's primary, J.F.K. nephew Mark Shriver, left, narrowly lost his bid to be the Democratic nominee for a congressional seat from Maryland, despite getting his publicity-shy cousin Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg to campaign for him. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, center, eldest child of Robert F. Kennedy, is facing an unexpectedly tough battle for Governor of Maryland, as her double-digit lead has dwindled. And Kennedy ties didn't do much for Andrew Cuomo, married to another of R.F.K.'s daughters; he backed out of the New York Governor...
...only a few months ago that Kathleen Kennedy Townsend seemed so unbeatable that no big-name Democrat would challenge her? With millions pouring into her campaign coffers, Townsend seemed to have a lock on this year's election for Maryland Governor. When Townsend's aunt Eunice Kennedy Shriver threw her a $10-a-head fund raiser last year, traffic backed up for more than a mile, as 5,000 people clamored for an afternoon of Kennedy glamour. And the Governor's mansion was seen as a way station: it was just a matter of time, the pundits were saying, until...
...many paid attention when little-known Republican Congressman Robert Ehrlich jumped into the race last March. Maryland is so Democratic, it has not elected a Republican Governor since Spiro Agnew in 1966. But a poor campaign has hurt Townsend, who is currently lieutenant governor. Polls last week showed Ehrlich with a slight though statistically insignificant lead. The race is suddenly being viewed as a test of whether being a Kennedy is still a political advantage...
...Ehrlich has pronounced that legacy "dead." And while being a Kennedy doesn't hurt with fund raising and publicity, the name doesn't evoke the magic it once did. Maryland legislator Mark Shriver, Townsend's cousin, lost a congressional primary earlier this month, while Andrew Cuomo, her brother-in-law, abandoned his bid for New York's Democratic gubernatorial nomination even before primary...
...That leaves Townsend the last Kennedy standing in this year's races for higher office. (Cousin Patrick, Teddy's son, seems safe in his bid for re-election as a Rhode Island Congressman.) But her campaign has faltered: her choice of a white running mate was considered an insult to African-American voters, who constitute almost 30% of the electorate, especially after Ehrlich picked the state's black g.o.p. chairman for his ticket. And her association with Governor Parris Glendening has saddled her with some blame for next year's projected $1.3 billion deficit. Last week she had to fire...