LET? s e e . - WHAT W IL L I DO N OW ? ! T H E S E T O Y S COOK 5 C 0 T 6 - -E U T DO THEY , p e a y e m . O I HAVE A N IDEA. iw f ! r /HE ANO TAO u - x 1 Boys WEIZE T A L K IN' IT OVER AND w e KINDA THOUGHT w e 'D L IKE ' ^N tW FA C t IN TH' wurre House c o w e . 1 9 8 0 . . . ^ — ' WFAC£ti 1 N6u< *N A I UCSHSe 15 5 >explR6D AND I 'M U N D E R A 'DOCTOR'SCABCy o u C A TCH o w < QUICK.ML-MM, w e u N E ED you - S t f M W 6 M $ SHENANIGANS, ^S H E N A N IG A N S, < FORTHE NEW $.. SHIPS PR lN lAR y^ ( u j o y TH EM .'.' WG 60T SOME SHEN^ S 'WE'RE TALKING ) pRes ioeNT iAL ] CAMPAIGN, A u w v ^ r A N D - I H I O 1$ w cWHUSH~< HUSH-. (ML CANDI- 1PCCSPT TH 6 NOMINATION'! DATE' S UNDER W RAPS " H U H? / , 5 " BL A A? strong messianic overtones. In the king’s absence the evil tyrant, Modred (Nixon?) rules and ruins. When the king returns, all believe that injustices will be righted. Jimmy Carter is not part of the myth. He is an interloper, an intervening chapter. Teddy is the rightful heir, for the crimes of the country were crimes against his family. Would Vietnam and Watergate have occurred if his brothers had lived? This unanswerable question is crucial to our perception of recent American history. To repress the Kennedy dream would be to accept history without remorse, to accept a fatalistic view of events since November 22, 1963, and to deny American optimism. This cannot be done, at least until the last Kennedy ascends the throne of power. A sense of completed drama demands his candidacy. The First Hurrah There are many smaller dreams that make up the larger Kennedy dream, and that of the party regulars is paramount, since it is they who most desperately seek a Kennedy candidacy. American political parties aren’t held together by principle but by fear of defeat and hope of sharing the spoils. Carter’s failure as a political leader has united the Democratic party regulars, bringing them together in common cause in a way that hasn’t happened in years. With Carter at the top of the ticket, their jobs are threatened. The regulars also desire the restoration of the party. They are in revolt against Carter’s style of moral uplift, political inconsistency, and closed deliberations. But they don’t understand the complexity of the decline of the parties, which only incidentally has to do with Jimmy Carter. To them, Kennedy is a symbol of the old days, when it could be said of national campaigns that Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was “the whole ballgame.” When Kennedy speaks to the party professionals they hear long-forgotten voices, even the voice of Teddy’s grandfather, mayor of ragtime Boston, John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald. Kennedy takes the regulars back in time to the period before The Last Hurrah, when machine politicians were powers to be reckoned with, not quaint objects or sentimental anecdotes evoking a more authentic brand of politics. For the regulars, the Kennedy candidacy is a dream of memory, of current convenience and apprehension of the future. They regard him with awe and envy. “He can do things, say things, and go places the rest of us can’t ,” says Robert Crane, Massachusetts treasurer, once a Kennedy factotum and chairman of the state Democratic party. “There are all levels of comparison,” he says. “ It’s like in hockey. On this line are all the hockey greats. And then there’s Bobby O rr.” James King, Kennedy’s advance man for 14 years and now head of the National Transportation Safety Board, says, “ Regular pols are fascinated that Kennedy’s fast moving. What baffles them is his real enjoyment in campaigns. You know, a lot of them don’t really like to campaign. Kennedy works as hard as anyone I know. He’s scrupulous about the kind of things we regard as staff kinds of things. He understands that you had to hire a hall, that there was a committee for the coffee. He’s extraordinarily demanding. I never had the feeling you’d earned your stars and could take it easy. He has sheer animal energy. That shouldn’t be sold short in a campaign. And, this is important, he understands where he’s from. When he comes back to Massachusetts you’d think he was ten points down in the polls with an election in a month. He understands campaigns as educating folks. And I’ve never been with him when he didn’t learn something from the day. He flourishes from the contact.” The Kennedy operation today leans heavily on organization and the figure of Kennedy himself, the symbol who doesn’t need symbolism. “He presents himself. I just film him,” says Charles Guggenheim, the filmmaker who has made the senator’s political ads since 1970. Guggenheim produces artful ads; he doesn’t indulge in packaging gimmicks. With Kennedy he doesn’t have to. He’s also not part of the Kennedy political operation. Gathered around Kennedy are his Knights of the Round Table, the toughest and the shrewdest. Since the murder of Robert Kennedy, the elders of this mystic circle have pursued adventure in private law practice, government bureaucracies, and the higher echelons of the media. They are bound to Kennedy by primal ties of loyalty and, although they can’t abandon their careers, they can be called upon for help. The Old Fox “There are old foxes around like me,” says Gerard Doherty. He wears a tie clip in the shape of the state of Massachusetts. Embossed on it is this legend: “Kennedy ’62.” It is the political equivalent of epaulettes, designating his rank and experience. Doherty practices law now. He has been a lobbyist for the Greater Boston Real Estate Board and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, among other interests. He has lived in Charlestown his entire life. The sitting room in his Beacon Street law office is decorated with early American furniture and paintings. Daily he receives telephone calls from operatives eager to involve themselves in Kennedy’s presidential drive; he writes down their names and promises nothing. He is soft spoken and intense. “ I first met Ted Kennedy in 1958,” he says. “ I was in the legislature, a young Irish turk. In 1960, I was just getting by; I was in law school. And, in 1961, a friend of mine who was a friend of the Kennedy family, Frank Morrissey, asked me if I would have lunch with Ted Kennedy. When the lunch was over he announced he was running for the Senate. They asked me to set up another lunch for legislators. I got to be his contact person. Then I met with the president and Robert Kennedy and they gave me responsibility for the state convention.” After Ted was elected to the Senate the Kennedy family carved out a new niche for him. “Teddy had criticism from the cognoscenti, the liberals. They were most interested in party reform. So I became the party reformer. I was state chairman for six years. You just keep handling all the bad problems. It’s great for your humility.” Doherty was a valuable Kennedy family asset. He was able to galvanize the troops in distant provinces, winning famous victories. Once he received his marching orders he knew what to do. When Robert Kennedy announced his presidential bid in 1968 his triumph was by no means certain. Lyndon Johnson, the incumbent president, had not yet abdicated. And Eugene McCarthy, carrying the liberal antiwar banner, refused to make an alliance; to the McCarthy followers, Kennedy was a reckless opportunist. The first primary for Kennedy was in Indiana, where he faced a favorite- son governor, a machine Democrat, holding the fort for Johnson. “Teddy asked me to take it,” says Doherty. “From the day I went to the day of filing 20.000 signatures was one week. We had to build around the party organization.” Kennedy won, giving his candidacy credence and reinvigorating the legend of invincibility. Doherty was on his way to organize New York for Kennedy when he received word of the assassination. “ I grieved and sorrowed for a while.” he says. Then he was back in the fray. “Humphrey asked Teddy for some help.” Doherty was the help. He organized Ohio, which Humphrey narrowly lost. “ I just came back and practiced law,” says Doherty. “ I did a lot of lobbying. But I got out of that.” Then in 1976 Carter requested aid from Ted Kennedy, who then asked Doherty to run the New York camTHE PLAINFIELD FAMILY PRESENTS INTERNATIONAL GOURMET DINING . . . 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