Re: RFK/NY (#139681)
by Robert KC Johnson on January 13, 2010 at 9:46 AM

I agree completely--RFK had a connection to the state, if a somewhat distant one. (That said, incumbent Kenneth Keating played up the issue to the hilt--offering to give RFK a map of the state, opening his announcement for reelection by commenting that he would not run . . . as a senator from Massachusetts.) RFK also had been involved with the state on law enforcement issues as AG, and on political issues as campaign manager for his brother in 1960.

Hillary's connections with the state, obviously, were non-existent, though even in her run, she was strongly backed by Charlie Rangel, who at the time was probably the most powerful Democrat in the state.

I thought the best reaction to Ford came from the state's ineffective governor, David Patterson, who suggested that Ford should find another state in which to run.