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New politician Joseph Kennedy III is no chip off the old block say insiders

Latest Kennedy doesn’t drink and is totally focused on his new political career

KERRY O'SHEA,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Monday, March 19, 2012, 7:36 AM

Updated Monday, March 19, 2012, 11:52 AM

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Joseph P Kennedy III meet this constituents

Photo by Google Images

Joseph P. Kennedy III, great-nephew of the late President John F Kennedy, is making a run for Congress. With a last name like Kennedy, many believe the congressional bid should be a breeze, but Joe’s life thus far has proved that he is willing to work hard, Kennedy or not, for the bid.

He is also unusual, in that he does not drink and even when a freshman at Stanford, he refused to drink as part of a hazing ritual and drank milk instead. His nickname has been ‘the milkman” ever since

In a profile on Joe Kennedy, Sally Jacobs for Boston.com writes of his past and where it could lead him in the future. While, yes, he has a politically famous and adored last name, Joe Kennedy is looking to get to Congress on his own terms.

Of his famous family, Kennedy remains vague, yet loving - “It’s a huge family. It’s crazy, it’s wonderful, it’s vibrant and it’s exciting." Kennedy is, however, aware firsthand of the strains that a political life can have on a family. His parents divorced due to his father being away for so often in Washington DC. His mother often showed signs of resentment of getting caught up with the Kennedy fame.

Kennedy himself, however, announced his own engagement within the past few months, to former classmate and Southern California native, Lauren Birchfield.

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While Kennedy insists that going into politics didn’t appeal to him until later in life, others saw it coming a mile away. “We always joked that Joe was going to run for president,’’ recalled Matt Twomey, who played on the Stanford lacrosse team alongside Kennedy during their college days. “With that last name of his and the fact that he didn’t drink, it just seemed obvious.’’

Kennedy has never been a drinker. “Some see it as a sign of his determination to steer clear of the demons of drugs and alcohol that other family members have wrestled with - in some cases fatally. Others consider it a reflection of a singular self-confidence,” writes Sally Jacobs for Boston.com.

“It’s just a personal preference," Kennedy said in an interview. “It’s really just something I have never felt an attraction to."

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IrelandNorth | Apr 05, 2012, 08:30 AM EDT

I see the good old Irish red hair is shining through. Definately Irish by genetics. And Celtic-Irish too. Gee! The political divide is almost as bad in the US between blue-collar Democrats and white collar Republicans as it is here in Ireland, between Irish/Catholic/Nationalist/Republican and British/Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist. America - partioned? Never!

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seanomelb | Mar 20, 2012, 07:12 PM EDT

Good Lord!!! DR. Sheila you sound like Hitler and his geneticists.

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DrSheilahere | Mar 20, 2012, 01:09 PM EDT

Personally, no more Kennedy's. He not only has the alcohol gene but also the others. End the dynasty.

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McNamara31 | Mar 20, 2012, 10:56 AM EDT

Many an Irish family has been destroyed by alcohol. This Kennedy is smart because he has learned from the damage done to his uncles and cousins. It’s now known in science that the predisposition for drug and alcohol abuse is genetic just like sweets to a diabetic. Scientific reports came out of China after their famine (1959-1961)that tracked children born to mothers who were starving during their pregnancy and found these children went on to have higher addiction rates and some forms of mental illness. It’s sad that no one ever took “the time” to study the effects of the Irish Famine on the generations born thereafter and possibly better treatments in the cases of family addictions could have been found. In a way even the Irish bought into the English stereotypes that as a people we were drunkards when research could have shown a genetic component caused by the famine.

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pilib04 | Mar 19, 2012, 07:27 PM EDT

Nicomax, you call what happended during Dubya's reign, "close to sinking the entire country?" I don't think Dubya was "close", I think he managed to do it. Thankfully, President Obama is turning the country around.

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Murph46 | Mar 19, 2012, 06:48 PM EDT

Haters-revisionist term for historian!!!!!!!

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seanomelb | Mar 19, 2012, 06:07 PM EDT

The rhetoric from the Kennedy haters is so puerile and mean spirited is laughable. Give the man a chance to prove his worth and get over your feeble bitterness.

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alisaann | Mar 19, 2012, 03:58 PM EDT

the kennedys are NOT thugs....and he seems to have CLEAN background....the kennedys have ALWAYS cared about the people....i hope he WINS....we need him in washington,dc. alisa

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pattbaa | Mar 19, 2012, 03:49 PM EDT

Greenwich Connecticut-- We have a "saying" in the States-- "He was born on third base". This applies to someone , who because of wealth or priviledge , was spared the ordeal of first "getting to first base" by swinging a bat against a pitch traveleing at 100 miles-per-hour. To compare J Kennedy III to another Irish-American politician , Richard Daley , is similiar to comparing Rembrant to a graffitti "artist".---Daley was born in the blue-collar "Bridgeport" section of Chicago , son of an Irish-American tradesman. His started working when a boy , delivering newspapers. His meteroric career began when we was elected precint captain at age 21 and from this lowly start was elected Mayor of Chicago six times --" From 1953 until he died in 1976 , Daley was the un-challenged leader of Cook County politics which directed and controlled every municiple service for the residents of Chicago and Cook County" --"He knew every nut and bolt of the 'machine' knew the workings of each and every Ward Distric, knew every precint captain."--- In the 1960 Presidential Election , John Kennedy's margin of victory in the State of Illinois was a meager 9,000 votes. If Kennedy lost Illinois , he lost the election. He margin of victory in Daley's Cook County was 465,000. Safe to say that if there were not a Richard Daley who " delivered" Illinois in 1960 , there would not be a present-day Kennedy campaigning for an office.

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FastEddy | Mar 19, 2012, 01:49 PM EDT

Just another pretty face with too much money to spend ...

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Nicomax | Mar 19, 2012, 01:34 PM EDT

As expected, we always get the Kennedy hate comments whenever another member of the family steps into the spotlight. Would it then be just OK for some of us to groan if and when Jeb Bush decides to run again since his Papa was a stiff, and his brother a dolt who came close to sinking the entire country?

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hermitTalker | Mar 19, 2012, 01:09 PM EDT

Good start for his not drinking even one glass. We hope he also follows his g/g/g Grandmother and stays close to the Roman Catholic Christian faith and its biblically rooted moral value system. Congress or State Governments do not need another "catholic" favouring abortion and same gender unions being defined as "marriage" and does not allow the poor to pay the bills of the GreedyGamblers and really champions the vulnerable.

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CitizenWhy | Mar 19, 2012, 12:25 PM EDT

Sound values without the Kennedy baggage. I've seen may grandkids of Irish immigrant big drinkers become non-drinkers or very light drinkers. But the right wing thugs will be out in force to spread their evil way of thinking.

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J.D.McCaffrey | Mar 19, 2012, 10:24 AM EDT

The kid shows promise. I just hope he's pro-labor and as compassionate a Liberal as his uncle Teddy.

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