Joseph Kennedy III is the grandson of the former U.S. president the late John F. Kennedy (Kennedy III). At a time when many people are skeptical of socially liberal presidential candidates because they worry that this means things like an unbalanced budget and large governmental control, Joseph Kennedy III appears to soothe their worries. Although he is the democratic representative, he tends to be conservative with things like a balanced budget, which helps him be an accessible candidate to more conservatively inclined voters. The area he represents goes all the way from Boston proper to the North Shore, which is interesting since those two regions fall on opposite ends of the spectrum politically, with Boston being overwhelmingly liberal and North Shore being more center/right leaning. Historically, the North Shore has been viewed as a wealthy, exclusive town of fishing villages, with a smattering of working class areas closer to Boston. Similarly, inner city Boston tends to be predominantly working class neighborhoods, with the incomes increasing the further from downtown one gets. Cambridge, Massachusetts, home of the prestigious Harvard University, tends to be more ritzy, and Newton, where I'm from, tends to be even wealthier (albeit predominantly Jewish and liberal). This is an important distinction to make because the income distribution has an important role on politics. For example, North Shore and Newton are relatively similar in terms of income, but the voting results of these two locales is vastly different. This plays an essential role in the ways in which politicians must position themselves on various policies.
Bierman, Noah. "Joseph Kennedy III charts different path in congress than hard-charging father" BostonGlobe.com. Boston Globe, 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 28 Sept. 2014
"Joseph Patrick Kennedy III." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.
Kennedy, Joseph III, Representative for Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District." GovTrack, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.
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