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.
Joseph Kennedy III is one of the 19 richest new members of congress (Business Insider). His wealth is primarily inherited, which made it easier for him to gain political momentum in the race for a spot in congress. (insert citation) Ironically, he has actually spent most of his career working in public service, working as a district attorney in Massachusetts. Although his success is not necessarily because of his background, having the financial backing when running for office certainly helped him quite a bit.
What makes Joseph Kennedy II an interesting candidate is that although he comes from a prominent family, he has taken a radically different approach in his campaign (Bierman) He also comes from a significant amount of wealth and power, yet he does not ride off of this too extensively in his campaign. One of the things that continued to come up in our discussion on Friday was how money plays an enormous role in campaigns, however our group could not come to a definitive conclusion as to how and why the role of money manifests itself in these campaigns. According to the IEEE-USA, the average congressional campaign cost over 1 million dollars in 2002. That number has probably almost tripled already in 2014. Therefore, the conclusion that can be made form this information is that candidates that come from wealthy backgrounds and have more money will typically fare better in national elections than those from modest backgrounds. However, it appears that the accessibility of the candidate, in other words the ability of the candidate to relate to the people he is representing, plays an equally if not more important role as money.
Joseph Kennedy III is one of the 19 richest new members of congress (Business Insider). His wealth is primarily inherited, which made it easier for him to gain political momentum in the race for a spot in congress. (insert citation) Ironically, he has actually spent most of his career working in public service, working as a district attorney in Massachusetts. Although his success is not necessarily because of his background, having the financial backing when running for office certainly helped him quite a bit.
What makes Joseph Kennedy II an interesting candidate is that although he comes from a prominent family, he has taken a radically different approach in his campaign (Bierman) He also comes from a significant amount of wealth and power, yet he does not ride off of this too extensively in his campaign. One of the things that continued to come up in our discussion on Friday was how money plays an enormous role in campaigns, however our group could not come to a definitive conclusion as to how and why the role of money manifests itself in these campaigns. According to the IEEE-USA, the average congressional campaign cost over 1 million dollars in 2002. That number has probably almost tripled already in 2014. Therefore, the conclusion that can be made form this information is that candidates that come from wealthy backgrounds and have more money will typically fare better in national elections than those from modest backgrounds. However, it appears that the accessibility of the candidate, in other words the ability of the candidate to relate to the people he is representing, plays an equally if not more important role as money.
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.
"The Role of Money in Politics." Ieee.usa.org. IEEE-USA: Building Careers and Shaping Public Policy, 20 Aug. 2013. Web. 03 Oct. 2014.
Hikey, Walter. "The 19 Richest New Members Of Congress."Businessinsider.com. Business Insider Inc, 18 Jan. 2013. Web. 3 Oct. 2014.
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