Patrick has come to symbolize the arrogance of power in which one can verbally abuse airport screeners, trash a boat, get into an argument with a female companion such that the police were called, and almost kill a Capitol policeman while driving under the influence, yet get away with no punishment either in the judicial system or at the polls.
Patrick has slipped past any form of electoral judgment because he has been good at bringing home federal dollars to his district, playing on the Kennedy name and legacy, raising money for his campaigns, and ignoring or demeaning his campaign rivals.
The demeaning comment directed by Patrick towards Scott Brown is reflective of Patrick's core instincts.
The days when Patrick can get away with his games and attitude are gone.
Patrick Kennedy is my new Martha Coakley, with the difference that Martha Coakley had some accomplishments in her life prior to running for the Senate, and generally was a nice person (although some of her campaign tactics were not so nice). Patrick Kennedy, by contrast, has accomplished almost nothing in his life, is an embarrassment, and is not a nice person.
I hope that the likely Republican nominee, John Loughlin, is up to the task. Removing Patrick from power will be a monumental task despite the current polling, and one should not underestimate Patrick's ability to raise campaign funds and to attack. I'm taking on this project not because there is a huge likelihood of success, but because success would be a huge victory for this country.
We cannot let the First Congressional District in Rhode Island turn into "the Kennedy seat." Not with this Kennedy.
That's something that should be repeated across the country. Maybe Nancy Pelosi is bullet-proof (sorry, folks), but a lot of liberal congressmen are there simply due to an unholy combination of incumbency and inertia. Just in the Bay Area, we have unpleasant people like George Miller, Pete Stark, and Barbara Lee; people who haven't faced a real opponent, or had to explain their more radical positions or associations, in years, if not decades. Farther south, we have someone like (geesh) Henry Waxman representing some of the more glamorous areas of LA. Really? He's the best they can do?
I'm not calling for kamikaze missions, here; but I would hope that some of the more appalling members of the Democratic caucus have to put up a real fight this year.
*that's no joke. In the depths of the Cornhusker Kickback despair, Jacobson was urging people to look to supporting Scott Brown as a last stand against Obamacare.
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