Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411090096
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium
It took a fair amount of forgiving for many voters to give Edward Moore Kennedy a seventh term on Capitol Hill. But even to voters who professed to loathe the last surviving brother of his generation, the prospect of losing their link to this country's best-known political dynasty was perplexing.
``I don't know that `affection' is the word that describes how we feel about Kennedy here,'' reflected novelist James Carroll, who lives on Boston's Beacon Hill. ``I think it's a connection, a deep emotional bond, for better or for worse.''
But the extent of that attachment was severely tested in Kennedy's race against venture capitalist Mitt Romney, son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney.
``Kennedy pulled out all the stops on this one,'' said Republican state Sen. Lucille Hicks, who represents the town of Wayland, west of Boston. ``He was hanging on by his toenails.''
Nowhere was the contrast between the two candidates more pronounced than in their physical appearance. At 62, the white-haired Kennedy has grown so heavy he inspired a David Letterman joke: ``Vote for me, the big, red-faced guy.''
Romney, 47, is square-jawed and lean. His hair is dark and lustrous. When he smiles, spectators are wise to don sunglasses.
Their political philosophies are equally at odds. Kennedy all but personifies traditional liberal Democratic politics. He believes in government as a vehicle for social reform, and in recent years has proved to be a champion of causes pertaining to women and families.
Romney is an inveterate capitalist who espouses a ``hands-off'' attitude on most questions of government intervention. He has particularly faulted Democrats for poor economic policies and has vowed to reverse tax increases introduced by Democrats.
Mostly, Romney campaigned on what was a recurring theme around the country: the need for change, the need to oust tired old incumbents in favor of fresh new political blood.
Like many contests across the country, the Kennedy-Romney race was marked as much by record spending by both candidates as by the churlish, attack-dog tone the two contenders embraced. In what proved to be the most expensive campaign in Massachusetts history, Kennedy spent $8.5 million to defend his seat. Romney's campaign cost $7 million, at least $3 million of that coming from his own pocket.
Snippish television and radio ads, in particular, featured the two men - each a multimillionaire in his own right - accusing each other of having improperly benefited from suspicious real estate or business deals. The angry tenor seemed out of sync with a state economy that has improved markedly in the last four years.
Kennedy's pre-debate campaign performance had been so sluggish that Romney - as well as many veteran political observers - probably underestimated the senator's comeback power.
``The Kennedy campaign was asleep,'' said longtime Democratic strategist Paul Nace. ``They probably underestimated the vulnerability of the senator in Massachusetts, and they overestimated the knowledgeability of people. You know, Ted is very easy to take for granted. He's always been there.''
John Gorman, president of Opinion Dynamics in Cambridge, said a full three years after the family's most recent scandal - when his nephew William Kennedy Smith was charged with rape at the family's compound at Palm Beach, Fla., and Edward Kennedy was described as carousing with his nephew and running around the mansion in his underwear - ``Kennedy had a 2-to-1 negative rating in this state.''
But through ``a combination of work, remarriage and penance,'' Kennedy managed to get back in the race, Gorman said.
by CNB