* Chris Kennedy interviewed by the Peoria Journal Star…
Q: Particularly in the last couple of months, you’ve emphasized while campaigning that you’re definitely not the choice of the Democratic establishment in Illinois. Some people might hear the Kennedy name and think “underdog?” Why is that a valid notion?
A: I think the most shocking thing for people to hear is a Kennedy being critical of the Democratic Party. The truth is, when President Kennedy ran for president, his greatest opposition wasn’t Richard Nixon in the general election, it was the Democratic Party in the primaries that said, “We don’t want you to be our standardbearer because you’re Catholic and you’ll lose in the general. We don’t want you to be our leader because you’re too young and you’ll lose in the general. We don’t want you to be our leader because you’re not one of us and we don’t want somebody who we can’t control.” He overcame all that.
My father, Bobby Kennedy, runs for Senate in 1964 from the state of New York and they say you’re not from here, even though his parents raised him there. They call him a carpetbagger and they say we don’t need you here. He overcomes the Democrats in the primary and wins the general election. He runs in 1968 against the head of the Democratic Party, the president of the United States, Lyndon Johnson, because too many people of color or who were poor disproportionately were fighting in the Vietnam War. Teddy, my uncle, runs against Jimmy Carter in 1980, the sitting president, because Carter oversaw a federal reserve that jacked interest rates to 19, 20 percent and drove tens of millions of people out of jobs, and Teddy said that’s not the Democratic Party we want.
And I have to say the same in Illinois. This is not the Democratic Party that represents Kennedy values. These are people who are making money off the system as property tax appeals lawyers that’s destroying our ability to educate the next generation of kids in our state. You want economic development? Jobs go to where the highly educated high school and college kids are. You can’t produce highly educated high school kids when you rely on property taxes. Everybody knows that, yet we cling to that system because our leadership is property tax appeals lawyers, and they’re destroying our state.
- Iggy - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 9:29 am:
he’s not wrong, well said Mr. Kennedy
- @misterjayem - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 9:30 am:
“This is not the Democratic Party that represents Kennedy values.”
That cuts both ways, doesn’t it?
– MrJM
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 9:34 am:
===And I have to say the same in Illinois. This is not the Democratic Party that represents Kennedy values.===
Kennedy values > Democratic values?
Is that the take?
It’s like going 3rd person on ethics…
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 9:40 am:
–He runs in 1968 against the head of the Democratic Party, the president of the United States, Lyndon Johnson, because too many people of color or who were poor disproportionately were fighting in the Vietnam War.–
The decades-long Kennedy family revisionism on the JFK/RFK role in laying the groundwork for American escalation in Southeast Asia continues.
Perhaps he could explain how JFKs massive secret bombing of subsistence rice farmers in Laos played into concern for disproportionately poor people of color.
LBJ kept all JFK’s national security and military peeps and they all pushed for escalation. And LBJ was with them, all the way, because he didn’t want to be seen as losing a war. It’s all on his tapes.
Unless you’re a hopelessly romantic paranoid like Oliver Stone, there’s no reason to believe things would have played out differently under JFK.
It took many years for the American people to get fed up with the killing and force the politicians to get out.
- Nieva - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 9:43 am:
My great grandpa fought in the Civil War for the North. Should I bring this up if I run for the county board? Kennedy needs to start running by himself and leave the family name out of every conversation he has..
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 9:45 am:
==Teddy, my uncle, runs against Jimmy Carter in 1980==
And boy did that work out great!
But really, his answer to “How can you call yourself an anti-establishment candidate?” is to rattle off all of his family members who’ve won major elected office. Not only does that reinforce the skepticism, but it shows that he’s running an all bio campaign. It’s all about the Kennedy prestige.
- A guy - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 9:50 am:
==and leave the family name out of every conversation he has..===
Um…it’s his name too.
- Anonish - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 9:50 am:
Feel free to add a new song to your repertoire any time Mr. Kennedy
- Boat captain - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 9:51 am:
In the words of Lloyd Bentsen-Chris, your no Bobby Kennedy.
- Lunchbox - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 9:54 am:
The rest of the interview is feisty as well. Can we focus on Pritzker vs. Kennedy as the top two? Biss never recovered from botching his Lt. Gov pick.
- Anonish - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 10:04 am:
I would say that Biss never recovered from entering the race in the first place.
- @misterjayem - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 10:14 am:
“I would say that Biss never recovered from entering the race in the first place.”
Biss could have made a strong showing as the “I’m Not a Billionaire” candidate if he hadn’t alienated his base by double-bungling his running mate pick.
– MrJM
- Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 10:19 am:
Kennedy is spot on and his message will resonate.
JB and the rest of the Cook County Democrats are apparently tone deaf and incapable of reading polls
- A Jack - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 10:20 am:
Well Chris, if you want to bring up your family history of public service, perhaps you should also mention your family history of scandals.
We can certainly learn a lot from how your family dealt with scandals and tried to sweep them under the rug using money and influence.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 10:31 am:
–JB and the rest of the Cook County Democrats are apparently tone deaf and incapable of reading polls–
So you and your programmers have nothing to worry about. 2018 will be just smooth-sailin’.
Is the Boss going to take advantage of his superior reading skills and put up credible and funded GOP candidates in Cook County? If not, why not?
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 10:32 am:
Well, sure, Lucky Pierre really has his finger on the pulse of Democratic primary voters.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 10:53 am:
===Well, sure, Lucky Pierre really has his finger on the pulse of Democratic primary voters.===
“Lucky Pierre” as a character says s/he is a Chicago Democratic primary voter, so there’s that, lol
===The rest of the interview is feisty as well. Can we focus on Pritzker vs. Kennedy as the top two?===
Polling says that’s true, but what’s also true is Biss is on the ballot. Ignore Biss at your own peril, as a three-way race has its own dynamic.
- Louis G. Atsaves - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 11:39 am:
Somebody in the Democratic Party of Illinois needs to immediately sit down Mr. Kennedy and smarten him up. Last I heard, according to the Illinois Democratic Press Release and Interview Guidelines, the appropriate word to use here is “decimate,” not “destroy.”
- anon2 - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 11:58 am:
It’s not property tax appeal lawyers who prevent the State from properly funding education, as Kennedy alleges. Instead, it’s the refusal to shift the primary burden of education funding from the property tax to state taxes. Madigan supported Edgar in ‘97 when the governor tried to shift to more state funding. The income tax hike bill passed the House with bipartisan support, only to be spiked in the Senate by Pate.
- Sputnik - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 12:29 pm:
I am a landlord, so I am fluent in tax reduction issues. It actually is ruining commerce in the South Suburbs. Commercial properties are way overtaxed, to the point where many of the older ones are abandoned to the tax auctions. And many of those are not bought by anyone and eventually wind up with the Cook County Land Bank.
My thinking is that this is an exercise in futility. Any real reform on this wouldn’t get passed the Illinois legislature anyway. Just like term limits.
Maybe fed up voters will take this out on Berrios. We’ll see if any of this negative coverage will effect his position. Doesn’t look like he is taking Kennedy’s advice to resign…
- Langhorne - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 12:30 pm:
Kennedy must have a very special, magical mirror.
Jfk won. Bobby won. Teddy won. Chris must be a winner too.
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 12:54 pm:
==Jfk won. Bobby won. Teddy won.==
Well, and also, RFK didn’t win in ‘68, and EMK didn’t win in ‘80. So…
- City Zen - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 2:15 pm:
==it’s the refusal to shift the primary burden of education funding from the property tax to state taxes.==
Any such shift would require the taxation of retirement income. Even with senior exemptions, property tax is the only means to extract education funding from the retired crowd. In other words, this isn’t happening anytime soon, unless JB wins office and follows through on his progressive plan.
- DuPage Saint - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 3:25 pm:
Wordslinger as to your first post in the revisionist history pushed out by the Kennedys and hanger on: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 3:28 pm:
===and leave the family name out of every conversation he has===
Until Pritzker leaves the family money out of every check he writes to his own campaign, this is a goofy idea.
- A guy - Tuesday, Jan 2, 18 @ 3:38 pm:
Hey Rich…A Penny for your thoughts?
- Johnyy Justice - Wednesday, Jan 3, 18 @ 2:24 am:
Not sure how smart it is to go after Jimmy Carter, probably the most revered figure in the Democratic party, and maybe the country; whereas Teddy Kennedy is held in low esteem by many due to the Mary Jo Kopechne incident.
- @misterjayem - Wednesday, Jan 3, 18 @ 8:58 am:
“Jimmy Carter, probably the most revered figure in the Democratic party, and maybe the country”
Wut???
– MrJM
- upnorth - Wednesday, Jan 3, 18 @ 9:34 am:
The tax lawyers are following the tax laws. If you do not like the tax laws change them. Everyone has the right to appeal the value of their property. Just because it is assessed does not make it right. Issue 2. That includes a lack of fiduciary duty as a legislator and a tax lawyer by a number of them. No one really appears to grasp this inherent conflict of interest. To simplify all does not do the topic justice.