Joe Kennedy III spoke to the 2012 Democratic Convention.
And he spoke to the 2016 convention Monday night.
Different time, different place.
And also a different age.
The congressman from the fourth district in Massachusetts with the name that so utterly fits the job is now 35 years of age.
That’s the minimum number of years required by the Constitution to be eligible to run for the presidency.
There was a time when a Kennedy, any Kennedy, speaking from such a prominent podium would have resulted in the “P” word bouncing around the convention auditorium like some balloon with the air flying out of it.
Not so much this time.
That’s not a criticism.
Nor is the lack of loud and obvious presidential buzz surrounding Joe K III an indication that there is no talk at all.
There is.
But it’s more on the sotto voce level as the Kennedy saga advances deeper into its second century.
Congressman Kennedy was given a prime time speaking slot in order to introduce a prime time speaking star, Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Kennedy opened by reciting a story from his first day at law school in which he was caught off guard by his professor.
Kennedy was stumped by the definition of the word “assumpsit.”
And his professor, Elizabeth Warren of course, made sure he would turn up for the next class ready and prepared.
It was a nice story, and one in which the Kennedy character played second fiddle to the principal character, who is now a senator from Massachusetts.
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A widespread view is that if Hillary Clinton had chosen Warren as her vice presidential running mate, Congressman Kennedy would have stepped into his former professor’s senatorial shoes.
But Clinton opted for Tim Kaine and the political lineup in Massachusetts will remain unchanged for the time being.
But the Senate idea gives a clue to another view of Joe K III’s possible future, and that is not of being a possible president, but rather a United States Senator in the mold of his uncle, the late Edward Kennedy.
Many believe that Ted Kennedy accomplished more in his years as the “Lion of the Senate” than he might have ever have done in the Oval Office while possibly facing a hostile Republican controlled Congress.
So it’s all ahead full for Congressman Kennedy, though in a quieter gentler manner than might have been the case for a Kennedy in another time.
And that may well be how Joe K III and those around him want it to be – for now.
“It’s a big deal obviously.
“Congressman Kennedy’s shown a lot of courage and leadership in the early part of his career here and he’s building his own name and record,” Massachusetts State Representative Nick Collins (D-South Boston), and a Massachusetts delegate to the convention, told the Boston Herald.
“I think it’s a big moment for him … he’s still a millennial. He’s speaking to a generation of folks who are coming of age in the party.”
In this Kennedy’s case, a most notable age.
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