Patrick Kennedy will not run for reelection

Patrick Kennedy won’t seek reelection
The reason behind the decision,

Although Kennedy never faced a serious threat in his overwhelmingly Democratic district, he was looking ahead to what may have been his toughest race yet this fall. Republicans are poised to nominate John Loughlin, an Army veteran and member of the Rhode Island legislature who raised more than $246,000 last year, putting him on pace to out-raise Kennedy’s recent challengers.

Colorful former Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci, a convicted felon who was released from federal prison in 2007 after serving four-and-a-half years on corruption charges, also said last month that he was open to the possibility of a House run.

And Kennedy’s approval numbers were sagging. According to a poll taken by a Providence TV station earlier this month, the incumbent was viewed unfavorably by 56 percent of voters in his district and his re-elect —those voters who said they would definitely vote to return him to office — was only at 35 percent.

The decision by Mr. Kennedy, 42, means that for the first time in nearly a half-century, a Kennedy would not be serving in Congress.

As one who has never understood the Kennedy mystique, it was about time. Jules Crittenden:

Camelot of course ended a long time ago, with an assassin’s bullet, followed by a second assassination. Ted Kennedy, to give him his due as a dynastic flag-bearing pol, weathered the scandal of Mary Jo Kopechne’s death and his own failure to win his party’s presidential nomination, and came back as one of the nation’s top powerbrokers who, despite his flaming liberalism, actually managed to effect some bipartisanship. Patches, hurtfully described by a columnist at my newspaper as the “runt of the litter of the runt of the litter” (Howie Carr, “Hey Patches, Did You Hear The one About … ” Feb. 6, 2010) , showed no signs of having that kind of fight, skill or charm, and it didn’t help that he had the msifortune to have been handed his fiefdom in an era when substance-abuse-related incidents require swearing off. Party hacks cite the poor climate for Democrats and the Coakley loss. Patches himself cites the old man’s death last August, which in dynastic terms, is weird. “The King is dead!” lament is supposed to be echoed by a lusty “Long live the King!”

Instapundit sees blood in the water?

A lot more blog reaction at Memeorandum.

Now that there will be a (temporary?) halt to the Kennedy dynasty in government, let’s also stop the Bushes, the Clintons, and heaven forbid, the McCains with the silly Meghan. Enough with the dynasties.