EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. Two years ago, it would have been unthinkable that both seats held by Kennedy family members could be won by Republicans.
But Scott Brown's January election to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's former Massachusetts seat paved the way, and now the GOP is hoping Rhode Island state Rep. John J. Loughlin II will give an encore performance in the race for the U.S. House seat held by Patrick J. Kennedy, the late senator's son, in Tuesday's election.
"What we are finding in Rhode Island is exactly what we found in Massachusetts during Scott Brown's election, and that is extreme voter unrest about the liberal, big-government, agenda that is bankrupting our nation," said Eric Fehrnstrom, the architect of Mr. Brown's win and now a strategist with the Loughlin campaign.
"People are just now beginning to wake up to the fact that our country is on the brink of financial ruin and Rhode Island is not immune to the voter backlash that we are witnessing in other parts of the country."
Whatever the outcome of the race, the election will mark the end of an era in American politics that dates back to 1946 when John F. Kennedy won a House seat in Massachusetts. Each year since then, at least one member of the Kennedy family has been in the White House, the U.S. House, or the U.S. Senate.
"It really is the end of the line for the Kennedys politically because when Patrick Kennedy leaves office I think the only Kennedy left is someone on the Santa Monica City Council," said Darrell M. West, a former Brown University professor who now works at the left-leaning Brookings Institution. "When you think about the fact that at one point they had a president and two senators and now they are down to a city council seat, that pretty much tells the story."
Robert S. Shriver, a nephew to the former president and brother of California's first lady, Maria Shriver, is serving his second term on the Santa Monica City Council, this time as mayor.
But Scott Brown's January election to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's former Massachusetts seat paved the way, and now the GOP is hoping Rhode Island state Rep. John J. Loughlin II will give an encore performance in the race for the U.S. House seat held by Patrick J. Kennedy, the late senator's son, in Tuesday's election.
"What we are finding in Rhode Island is exactly what we found in Massachusetts during Scott Brown's election, and that is extreme voter unrest about the liberal, big-government, agenda that is bankrupting our nation," said Eric Fehrnstrom, the architect of Mr. Brown's win and now a strategist with the Loughlin campaign.
"People are just now beginning to wake up to the fact that our country is on the brink of financial ruin and Rhode Island is not immune to the voter backlash that we are witnessing in other parts of the country."
Whatever the outcome of the race, the election will mark the end of an era in American politics that dates back to 1946 when John F. Kennedy won a House seat in Massachusetts. Each year since then, at least one member of the Kennedy family has been in the White House, the U.S. House, or the U.S. Senate.
"It really is the end of the line for the Kennedys politically because when Patrick Kennedy leaves office I think the only Kennedy left is someone on the Santa Monica City Council," said Darrell M. West, a former Brown University professor who now works at the left-leaning Brookings Institution. "When you think about the fact that at one point they had a president and two senators and now they are down to a city council seat, that pretty much tells the story."
Robert S. Shriver, a nephew to the former president and brother of California's first lady, Maria Shriver, is serving his second term on the Santa Monica City Council, this time as mayor.
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