Believe It: Romney Could End Sen. Kennedy's Reign

The unthinkable is now being thought. Political observers believe that Republican entrepreneur W. Mitt Romney could unseat 32-year Senator and Democratic icon Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 in the November election.

For liberals, that would be Armageddon. For conservatives, a Romney victory would warrant the kind of raucous celebration that marked the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Kennedy's descent, like his elder brother's rise to the Presidency more than three decades ago, has been meteoric. The senior senator from Massachusetts has long said he wants to serve in the Senate through the year 2000. Just two years ago, it seemed certain that he would.

In 1992, Kennedy had a Democratic President to work with for the first time in 12 years, and his signature issue, health care reform, was at the forefront of the congressional agenda. He was recently married to an intelligent, attractive lawyer, and good feeling towards the senator was running so high that late-night comedian Jay Leno decided to put a moratorium on Ted Kennedy jokes.

But only months into the Clinton administration, the usual presidential honeymoon dramatically ended when the president's economic stimulus package couldn't pass the Democrat-controlled Congress.

Foreign policy debacles, failed promises and the death of the health care reform bill followed, and the approval ratings for the president and key Congressional Democrats, including Kennedy, swooned.

So after Tuesday's primaries, the senator was talking about a campaign that is stranger than fiction but true. "We are in for a real battle," Kennedy said. "We can't afford to be complacent--the stakes are too high."

The Massachusetts senator is only one of several high-profile Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Charles Robb (D-Va.) and House Speaker Thomas Foley (D-Wash.), facing stiff challenges from Republicans this year. This is a national race now, and record amounts of money are likely to be spent.

At times Tuesday night, the 32-year incumbent seemed belligerent, even begging for a fight. "There really will be a World Series," he combatively declared, "and it starts tomorrow."

Negative Ads

The Kennedy campaign is so nervous about Romney that the senator's aides have been forced to do something Kennedy has avoided in six previous campaigns--run a negative television advertisement. The ad attacks Romney's business record.

Romney, while criticizing Kennedy's record on the airwaves, has been particularly careful in public speeches about facing a state icon. The Republican repeatedly emphasizes that he has no deep vendetta against the incumbent; he simply thinks Kennedy's solutions to current social problems are outdated.

"I was 15 when Ted was elected for the first time," Romney said Tuesday night. "At that time the problem we had in schools was kids chewing gum, now it's kids shooting guns."

"I appreciate all of what Ted has done in the past 32 years, but it is time for a change," he added.

Supporters of the 47-year-old self-made millionaire from Belmont also said that today's world is dramatically different from when Kennedy entered the Senate in 1962.

"I have deep respect for Senator Kennedy and his compassion for the disadvantaged in this country, but his solutions simply do not work," said Thomas G. Stemburg '71, chair of the board for office supply giant Staples. Stemburg said that until this year he had been a liberal Democrat for his entire life.

The image of Romney, an articulate, well-groomed family man, contrasts sharply with that of the aloof, gray-haired senator. That basic difference could be decisive on election day.

At Romney's victory celebration Tuesday night, the place was overrun with thirty-somethings and Generation X'ers who now believe that Romney is this state's future hope.

"Mitt is fiscally conservative and socially tolerant and has tremendous appeal to college students," said Boston University senior Scott J. Stitt, who is executive director of the Massachusetts College Republicans. "Who better represents the college spirit, the hope we have that our future will be better, than someone like Mitt Romney?"

But Kennedy's strongest appeal may be his clout in the Senate. The incumbent is still considered an effective legislator, still has the president's ear and still holds important positions on two prominent Senate committees; he is the chair of the Labor and Human Resources committee and the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. This summer, he was instrumental in securing the confirmation of Law School lecturer Stephen G. Breyer to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, the Romney bandwagon is filling up fast. A recent poll showed the two men in a statistical dead heat.

In introducing Romney Tuesday night, Joseph D. Malone '78, Kennedy's opponent in the 1988 Senate race, said: "If you think this is exciting tonight, I'll meet you in seven weeks."

The following is not a misprint. The Bay State could soon be without a Kennedy in the Senate

But only months into the Clinton administration, the usual presidential honeymoon dramatically ended when the president's economic stimulus package couldn't pass the Democrat-controlled Congress.

Foreign policy debacles, failed promises and the death of the health care reform bill followed, and the approval ratings for the president and key Congressional Democrats, including Kennedy, swooned.

So after Tuesday's primaries, the senator was talking about a campaign that is stranger than fiction but true. "We are in for a real battle," Kennedy said. "We can't afford to be complacent--the stakes are too high."

The Massachusetts senator is only one of several high-profile Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Charles Robb (D-Va.) and House Speaker Thomas Foley (D-Wash.), facing stiff challenges from Republicans this year. This is a national race now, and record amounts of money are likely to be spent.

At times Tuesday night, the 32-year incumbent seemed belligerent, even begging for a fight. "There really will be a World Series," he combatively declared, "and it starts tomorrow."

Negative Ads

The Kennedy campaign is so nervous about Romney that the senator's aides have been forced to do something Kennedy has avoided in six previous campaigns--run a negative television advertisement. The ad attacks Romney's business record.

Romney, while criticizing Kennedy's record on the airwaves, has been particularly careful in public speeches about facing a state icon. The Republican repeatedly emphasizes that he has no deep vendetta against the incumbent; he simply thinks Kennedy's solutions to current social problems are outdated.

"I was 15 when Ted was elected for the first time," Romney said Tuesday night. "At that time the problem we had in schools was kids chewing gum, now it's kids shooting guns."

"I appreciate all of what Ted has done in the past 32 years, but it is time for a change," he added.

Supporters of the 47-year-old self-made millionaire from Belmont also said that today's world is dramatically different from when Kennedy entered the Senate in 1962.

"I have deep respect for Senator Kennedy and his compassion for the disadvantaged in this country, but his solutions simply do not work," said Thomas G. Stemburg '71, chair of the board for office supply giant Staples. Stemburg said that until this year he had been a liberal Democrat for his entire life.

The image of Romney, an articulate, well-groomed family man, contrasts sharply with that of the aloof, gray-haired senator. That basic difference could be decisive on election day.

At Romney's victory celebration Tuesday night, the place was overrun with thirty-somethings and Generation X'ers who now believe that Romney is this state's future hope.

"Mitt is fiscally conservative and socially tolerant and has tremendous appeal to college students," said Boston University senior Scott J. Stitt, who is executive director of the Massachusetts College Republicans. "Who better represents the college spirit, the hope we have that our future will be better, than someone like Mitt Romney?"

But Kennedy's strongest appeal may be his clout in the Senate. The incumbent is still considered an effective legislator, still has the president's ear and still holds important positions on two prominent Senate committees; he is the chair of the Labor and Human Resources committee and the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. This summer, he was instrumental in securing the confirmation of Law School lecturer Stephen G. Breyer to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, the Romney bandwagon is filling up fast. A recent poll showed the two men in a statistical dead heat.

In introducing Romney Tuesday night, Joseph D. Malone '78, Kennedy's opponent in the 1988 Senate race, said: "If you think this is exciting tonight, I'll meet you in seven weeks."

The following is not a misprint. The Bay State could soon be without a Kennedy in the Senate