The Democrats have tapped 37-year-old Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., to deliver their rebuttal to President Trump’s State of the Union address.
The party of Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden is giving this speech opportunity to someone 30 years their junior. The Democrats are passing over expected 2020 contenders like Sens. Kamala Harris and Kristen Gillibrand, too, in favor of someone who has served in Congress for only five years.
Though Kennedy’s age may make him relatable to young voters, his life story certainly won’t. He went to school at Stanford and Harvard, served in the Peace Corps, worked as a district attorney, and then ran for Congress. Somehow, he has a net worth of $31.9 million (as reported in 2012) and has only ever worked for the government (yes, he’s one of the Kennedy’s).
Do they really think the Bernie Bros will rally behind someone whose life story has been made possible by inherited wealth? House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., seems unconcerned that Kennedy could appear out of touch.
“Congressman Kennedy profoundly understands the challenges facing hard-working men and women across the country,” she said in a statement.
However, Kennedy has not been the primary sponsor on a single piece of major legislation during his time in Congress.
Kennedy plans to bring Staff Sergeant Patricia King as his guest to the State of the Union. King is best known as the first infantryman in the U.S. army to come out as transgender. This special invitation foreshadows a speech likely to call out Trump’s proposed ban on transgender people serving in the military.
When all eyes are on Kennedy, he won’t be the only young person giving a high-profile response to Trump’s speech. Virginia State Delegate Elizabeth Guzman, 44, will deliver the Democrats’ Spanish-language response. This begs the question, why not simply translate Kennedy’s speech into Spanish? Apparently, the Democrats want different demographic groups to hear different speech content. Be that as it may, Guzman can speak on her personal experiences as a mother of four and a naturalized citizen. She immigrated to the U.S. from Peru at age 26.
With both speeches, Democrats are hoping for a better outcome than their 2017 response to Trump’s presidential address to Congress. Do you remember who gave the rebuttal last year? Of course not – no one does. Former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, unfortunately, fumbled his speech by calling himself both a Democrat and a Republican, while speaking in front of a staged diner scene. (Awkward!)
The year prior, former Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley responded to former President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address. The speech elevated her rising star, and she now represents our country at the United Nations. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., have also delivered the rebuttal, boosting their careers in the process.
Kennedy has big shoes to fill on Tuesday night, if he ever hopes to fill the seat of his great-uncle, JFK.
Angela Morabito (@AngelaLMorabito) writes about politics, media, ethics, and culture. She holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Georgetown University and has appeared on “On the Record with Greta van Susteren” as well as “Cavuto: Coast to Coast.”
