Joe Kennedy for Senate! No, Not That One.

Joe Kennedy II, the eldest son of Robert F. Kennedy who became a six-term congressman from Massachusetts, has passed on a run for his uncle’s Senate seat, even after a poll portrayed him as the clear favorite. But Joe Kennedy, a Libertarian Party activist, has thrown his hat in the ring. His reasons for running:

My immediate concerns regarding government lie more on the Federal level than at the State level which is why I am aiming for a position in the Federal Government. As this would be a large personal change and require a firm commitment to public service, I made the decision early that I were make such a change, I would prefer to do it for 6 years (as a Senator) and not for 2 (as a Congressman).

There’s considerable irony here. Fifty-three years ago, John F. Kennedy famously beat Joseph Russo for a seat in Congress after a janitor, also named Joseph Russo, was placed on the ballot to help split the vote. Republicans might not get so lucky with this Kennedy. “I do not have a campaign fund,” he warns, “nor the ability to obtain the required signatures to get on the ballot.”