Only in Mass.
(Boston Herald) — The Massachusetts AFL-CIO endorsed the not-yet-official congressional candidacy of Joseph P. Kennedy III yesterday — a pre-emptive move one prospective GOP opponent called a tactic straight out of the Camelot playbook — but Republicans say premature union nods could backfire on the Democratic dynasty’s scion.
“Well, that is shocking,” a sarcastic Sean Bielat told a Herald reporter who informed him of the endorsement. “It’s the first step in the coronation process. This is how the Kennedys do things.”
Bielat announced his candidacy for the redrawn 4th Congressional District seat in January; Kennedy hasn’t announced yet. A University of Massachusetts at Lowell/Boston Herald poll last week suggested Kennedy gets a huge boost from name recognition. The poll had the political neophyte who just moved into the district last week trouncing Bielat, 60 percent to 28 percent — despite Bielat’s hard-fought, well-financed race against U.S. Rep. Barney Frank in 2010, which Frank took with 54 percent to Bielat’s 43 percent.
The Service Employees International Union State Council also endorsed Kennedy last week.