JFK's Daughter Weighs In on Clinton-Obama Flap

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, endorsed Barack Obama with two central concepts in mind.

First, she wanted to send a signal to the Clintons that she vehemently disapproves of their campaign tactics and reputation. Ms. Kennedy's father may have been considered by some to be 'liberal' for his day, but he was clearly not mean-spirited, the proof of which is in the late Barry Goldwater's assessment of the President.

Goldwater, who ran as the quintessential conservative Republican in the 1964 Presidential campaign, stated that he was looking forward to running against John Kennedy. The two had even discussed conducting a nationwide series of friendly debates during which the issues and not personalities would be discussed.

However, fate would have it that Kennedy would never have the chance to run again, and Goldwater was stuck with running against Lyndon Baines Johnson, whom he described as the absolute most despicable human being ever to occupy the White House.

The Johnson campaign proved Goldwater's point. By falsely scaring the public into thinking Goldwater was a 'war-monger' who would get us into a nuclear war, including the airing of commercials showing mushroom clouds in the background as innocent American children played in the grass, Johnson succeeded in beating the socks off of Goldwater on a totally false premise.

In fact, it was actually JOHNSON who was the war-monger, and the Viet Nam War ruined his chances of running for a second term.

Kennedy was, no doubt, an amicable human being who would have run a clean, positive campaign in 1964, as Caroline Kennedy says Barack Obama is doing now.

Second, Ms. Kennedy claims that Obama would 'be a President like my father.'

This is where the comparison breaks down and highlights contrasts more than comparisons.

Obama sets a tone in a campaign that is similar to Kennedy's, but his views cannot be considered consistent with the late President's. For example, John F. Kennedy was a lifetime member of the NRA. Barack Obama has voted for every single piece of gun control legislaton that was put forth during his terms of office in Illinois, as well as in the U.S. Senate.

It is also worth noting that contrary to popular opinion, Kennedy was no big government statist. The massive growth of government occurred during Johnson's term of office. In addition, Kennedy supported and was able to pass a major tax cut similar to Ronald Reagan's in the early 1980s.

In short, Kennedy kept the growth of government in check and gave the citizens a prudent tax cut. If one reads Obama's proposals, one cannot in any circumstance refer to him as anything other than a big government statist in the mold of Lyndon Baines Johnson, without the Johnson corruption and mean-spiritedness.

The big news in the midst of all of this is that the Kennedy endorsement of Obama indicates that the 'old guard' in the Democratic Party is turning away from the Clintons. This could well spell the end of her campaign following Super Tuesday.