Younger Kennedys must step forward

From our Washington bureau

The United States faces a dangerous political vacuum unless one of Senator Edward Kennedy's sons unselfishly brings forward his two-term presidency, leading analysts agree.
Experts on both sides of a grieving US say the world's most powerful nation risks a long period of political instability if the presidential gap caused by the tragic death of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Junior is not plugged quickly.
"Clearly JFK Junior would have been American president from 2008 to 2016," said Professor Eugene J. Stanmore the third, head of the Pamela Anderson Institute of Political Studies in Southern California.
"Despite his protestations to the contrary, everyone knows he would have run and won in 2008 – he had everything going for him; good looks, old money, big teeth, surname. Sadly, now that's all gone.
"He was exactly what America would have wanted after the lacklustre George Bush Junior administration (2000-2004) and the equally disastrous voter flirtation with the one-term Hilary Clinton administration (2004-2008) what with its sex scandals and everything."
Professor Stanmore III said the problems caused by JFK Junior's death did not end with the 2008-2016 vacuum.
"The steady but uninspiring Jeb Bush administration (2016-24) would have been the perfect springboard in 2024 for a successful Kennedy challenge by whichever of the two Edward Kennedy sons hadn't got themselves killed off by then.
"Either Edward Junior or his younger brother, current Congressman Patrick Kennedy, would have fitted into the American political system like a glove – sure, they would have been getting on a little; Patrick, for example, would then be in his mid 50s – but either man has everything this country needs in a leader – good looks, old money, big teeth, surname. Sadly, now all that has changed.
"It's a tragedy because the American people would have been hankering for a return to yet another vibrant and unpredictable Kennedy administration after the boring Bush years."
Professor Stanmore 3 said the Kennedy clan had to bunker down in their Martha's Vineyard compound and work out which one – Edward or Patrick – would unselfishly bring forward their White House aspirations and take up the JFK Junior baton.
He said the changed circumstances would put intense pressure on the clan's ageing patriarch Senator Edward Kennedy.
"By the time his remaining son's turn for the presidency was due to come around in 2024 , we all expected the ex-Senator to be well and truly buried along with his less-lucky offspring. At least that's certainly what the top Democrat political strategists would have hoped for.
"Now it looks like he'd going to have to take sides. That's a bridge he's going to have to drive off when he comes to it."
Professor Stanmore III said it now appeared almost certain that the reshuffle of presidencies caused by the JFK Jnr tragedy would leave the 2024-32 presidency a perfect opportunity for Chelsea Clinton to make her run if, as expected, the Kennedy sibling who had not filled JFK Junior's earlier Kennedy presidency had still somehow managed to get himself killed before the 2024 Kennedy slot.
"By that time, Chelsea will have everything in place to make a pitch for votes - good looks, old money, big teeth, surname. Well, two outa four aren't bad, really."
Her administration would be the perfect lead-in for Jack, son of JFK's sole surviving child and the last remaining link with the days of Camelot, the reclusive Caroline, to enter the White House.
"The American people will be hankering for another Kennedy administration around then to keep the dream of Camelot alive. There'll also be immense emotional support for Jack, what with his feisty but ageing mother's whitewater rafting drowning still fresh in the minds of voters and all."
A renowned political strategist on the other side of the nation, Doctor John Woods I of the Betty Ford Clinic for Government Studies in Boston in the Kennedys' home state of Massachusetts, backed up Professor Stanmore III's concerns.
"As America moves confidently through the early years of the new millennium, we simply cannot afford to have an eight-year White House gap, Dr Woods I said.
"The years 2008 to 2020 now loom as a very dangerous time for our nation unless we move quickly.
"Just imagine. Somewhere in America right now is a bright young man or woman – possibly even someone who passed their law exams at the very first go – who is eyeing off that suddenly-opened White House gap.
"Someone who has an unequalled love for their fellow Americans and who honestly believes that if they ever made it to the White House, they could make a real difference to people's lives: address poverty, tackle race tensions, funnel expenditure away from the military, that sort of stuff.
"A person with such high ideals and who was their own person and who had to answer to nobody – I'm talking no trade-offs, no paybacks, no deals – would be an unmitigating disaster.
"The American political system simply can't afford to take that risk."