The new Kennedy king?

Coat of arms granted to President John F. Kennedy in 1961 by the Chief Herald of Ireland Gerard Slevin

From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

"If your name was Edward Moore instead of Edward Moore Kennedy, your candidacy would be a farce."

-- The bitter comment of then-Massachusetts Atty. Gen. Edward McCormick in 1962 while debating 30-year-old Edward (“Ted”) Kennedy in the Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat, which of course Mr. Kennedy won. At the time, his brother John was president and his brother Robert U.S. attorney general.

Given how long ago was the political golden age (around 1946-1990) of the Kennedy family, I was surprised that Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy III, 38, leads Sen. Edward Markey, 73, by double digits in a possible primary fight for Mr. Markey’s seat. Mr. Kennedy, with his famously red hair, is certainly well-spoken, intelligent and good-looking and beats the cadaverous-looking Ed Markey in the charisma department. But ideologically they’re pretty much the same and Mr. Markey has been an effective senator for his constituents. There does seem to be a movement by energized (especially by hatred of Trump) younger Democrats to erode the gerontocracy that currently runs Washington to the primary benefit of the old and affluent.