Kennedy Endorses Water Dog For Obama Family

Senator Ted Kennedy made an important political endorsement Tuesday.

Massachusetts' Senior Senator endorsed the Portugese water dog as the perfect pet for the nation's new first family.

President-elect Barack Obama made a very public promise to daughters Sasha and Malia the night he was elected. "You have earned the puppy that is coming with us to the White House," he said during his speech.

Ever since, speculation has abounded on what type of dog the first family would choose. The Obama's have said they need a dog that is hypoallergenic, because daughter Malia has allergies.

"A Portuguese water dog is the perfect choice for first dog," Kennedy said in a written statement. "The Obama girls -- and their parents -- will love a Portuguese water dog. They're loyal, smart, loving and they became a real part of the family. And they definitely do not shed."

Senator Kennedy and wife Vicki have three Portugese water dogs of their own. Sunny and Splash often accompany Kennedy to the Senate.

"They love being around people and being part of the action," he said.

The Kennedy's just added a third Portuguese water dog to the family, a puppy named Captains Courageous – or Cappy for short.

"I am proud to endorse the Portuguese water dog as the next First Dog of the United States," Senator Kennedy said. "They have a can do and hopeful spirit. They are smart. They are resilient. They are determined. They are optimistic. And they are tireless. Sounds like a perfect fit for the Obama Family and the Obama Administration."

Whatever dog the Obama's do choose, they have said the girls will be responsible for walking and cleaning up after their new pet.

Lifting veil of privacy, friends discuss Caroline Kennedy

When community groups and the Board of Education were caught in an acrimonious dispute over an arts program, education officials brought in a fixer: Caroline Kennedy.
The daughter of a president and niece of two senators listened attentively, asked probing questions and proposed various scenarios to resolve the dispute. Under her prompting, a compromise was reached.
"People were pushing themselves back from the table and folding their arms," recalled Stephanie Dua, chief executive officer of the Fund for Public Schools. "She was very good at defusing the situation. ... She has a very easy style about her but she’s very sharp."
The episode is an intriguing glimpse into how Kennedy might fill the role of U.S. senator if she is appointed to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In a series of interviews with The Associated Press, friends and colleagues of Kennedy painted a picture of a reserved but intelligent and tenacious woman who writes her own speeches and who, despite her vast wealth, still takes the subway.
Those interviewed did not provide an impartial view — but, with several speaking publicly for the first time about their relationship, they offered a rare look inside the private world of a woman America fell in love with decades ago as she rode her pony over the White House lawn.
___
Much was made of Kennedy’s decision last January to support Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, but she is no stranger to politics. Paul G. Kirk Jr. remembers meeting her at the age of 16 or so, soaking in as much as she could while on the campaign trail with her uncle Teddy.
She was "lively, engaged, inquisitive," said the family friend and former head of the Democratic Party. "She might hear two or three people ask the senator the same question if he was in a forum. They’d get back in the car, and she’d follow up."
By the time she was in Columbia University Law School more than a decade later, her intellectual curiosity, and her studiousness, still made an impression.
"She’s the A-plus student who does 110 percent," said classmate, friend and eventual co-author Ellen Alderman. "We were nerds ... the two Type A personalities who had worked very hard in school."
Inspired by some of their law school case studies, Kennedy and Alderman had a book proposal completed before they graduated. Soon they were traveling the country, interviewing people who had been caught up in civil rights cases for "In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action."
Kennedy was very good at putting their interviewees at ease, Alderman said. There was never any talk then of a political career, she said, but looking back she’s unsurprised.
"For me now it seems very natural," she said. "The most important part of the research we did was talking to people and listening to them. And she’s terrific on the legal end, on the analysis and the issues, and she’s terrific on the people end, on understanding how the law and government affects people every day."
___
Kennedy had her first daughter, Rose, around the same time she graduated from Columbia in 1988, and her professional life took shape around her children.
When Alderman became pregnant, she recalls, Kennedy became her "mommy mentor," showing her what she needed to pack a diaper bag, and giving her advice on work: "You can still do it, you’re just not going to have eight, 10, 12 hours at a time," Alderman recalls her saying.
Kennedy had help around the house, but she never delegated parenting — picking her three kids up from school and knowing who their friends were and where they were, said Esther Newberg, her friend and literary agent. Kennedy joined the board at her children’s school, and colleagues said she’d never attend a meeting if it meant missing a recital or another such event.
Kennedy’s friends and colleagues talk about what a remarkably "normal" life she lives, but one could argue they’re not the best judges. After all, her circle includes famous authors, a co-president of HBO, a former head of the Democratic National Committee, senators and the president-elect.
Kennedy’s finances — estimated by some at more than $400 million — never came up, Alderman said. The co-authors swapped who paid for dinner, and they flew coach. Kennedy has an assistant but does not use a driver, takes the subway around New York and books her own flights, friends said.
Her six-room apartment is at an exclusive address on Park Avenue where a larger unit was recently listed for $13 million. Friends describe it as a low-key place covered with books and decorated with slip-covered sofas.
Kennedy and her husband, museum designer Edwin Schlossberg, enjoy entertaining, frequently hosting buffet-style gatherings, Newberg said. Sometimes, he cooks.
Like thousands of New Yorkers, the couple hosted a debate-watching party the night of the face-off between vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. Talkative guests were shuffled into a separate room with a television so the true political junkies could hunker down in the den and hear every word.
When she wasn’t playing hostess, Caroline Kennedy chose the den.
___
Compared to the sharp-elbowed style common among New York politicians, Kennedy’s personality in a series of recent media interviews has seemed quiet, soft-spoken.
But those who have worked with Kennedy said her sometimes reserved demeanor could be misleading. More than one spoke of an instance where they had watched her listen carefully to each person’s point of view, then argue her point calmly but tenaciously, until she achieved her goal.
"If you aren’t as loud as I am, often people mistake that for not being effective and that’s just wrong," said Elaine Jones, the former president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where Kennedy served on the board. "I know how able, substantive and tough-minded Caroline is. Now others have got to see that in her. And she may have to project it."
While she never practiced law, Kennedy did heavy-duty research before board meetings and contributed to detailed legal debates over which cases would be selected by the NAACP fund, Jones said.
Kennedy also has been instrumental in selecting at least some of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award winners, who are honored for risking their careers to take a stand for their principles.
For the 2000 honor, she convinced the award committee to select a relative unknown, Hilda Solis, now the likely incoming secretary of labor, said Kirk, a committee member. Kennedy won the panel over with her argument that it was important to acknowledge lesser-known public servants so as to inspire others at every level of government.
Kennedy writes all her own speeches, says another longtime friend and colleague, Heather Campion. Preparing for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, speech writer and strategist Bob Shrum recounted handing her a draft of her speech, only to have her rewrite it from top to bottom.
Kirk said she seems to have taken to heart an oft-repeated family quote that she has included in her speeches again and again over the years: "Each of us can make a difference and all of us must try."
___
After years of focusing on her young children, Kennedy began to look for an alternative to the books on which she had been working.
"I’d like to work with people. Being a writer is a solitary job," she told Campion shortly before she went to work for the New York City Board of Education in 2002.
In her 22 months working three days a week at the agency, she was credited with raising tens of millions of dollars and revamping fundraising operations. Friends argue those fundraising skills would serve her well if she’s chosen as senator. Whoever is selected to fill Clinton’s seat would have to run for election to the seat in 2010, and — if successful — again in 2012.
Kennedy’s endorsement of Obama for the Democratic nomination came at a vital moment in his campaign, and friends said she loved campaigning and seemed invigorated by it.
"Presumably she could have had an appointment," said Campion, who at Kennedy’s request broke decades of public silence about their friendship. "There are a lot of great ambassadorships," Campion said she told Kennedy earlier.
There seemed easier ways to contribute without thrusting herself into the intensive public scrutiny that would come with a Senate bid.
But, Campion recounted, Kennedy was unconvinced by the warning.
She said: "But I want to make a difference ... and I love New York."

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Paterson: Kennedy lacks some experience for Senate

Gov. David Paterson said for the first time Thursday that Caroline Kennedy’s lack of legislative experience is a "minus" to her qualifications as a possible appointee to the U.S. Senate.

But the governor, who will appoint a new senator if Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes secretary of state as expected, also said Kennedy has many positives despite never holding elective office.

"Caroline Kennedy obviously does have a tremendous relationship with (President-elect Barack Obama) that’s certainly a plus," Paterson said Thursday. "She does not have much political, I mean, legislative experience, which is a minus."

The Democratic governor said as many as 15 contenders are interested and he’s already spoken to or interviewed about 10.

He said Kennedy’s advantages include her name and contacts in Washington — including her uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy — that could give her immediate clout, much like former first lady Clinton.

Caroline Kennedy, a 51-year-old author and lawyer who famously guarded her privacy until December, gave a critical early endorsement to Obama during his campaign. Now, Paterson is lobbying Obama hard for an economic stimulus package to help New York out of a historic fiscal crisis.

Others said to be interested in the appointment include New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi of Long Island, and Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Steve Israel, Jerrold Nadler, Kirsten Gillibrand and Brian Higgins.

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Eager to work, Kennedy makes emotional return

January 6, 2009

Senator Edward M. Kennedy made a promise four months ago at the Democratic National Convention: despite battling a malignant brain tumor, he would come back to the Senate in January and dedicate himself to crafting a healthcare plan that would cover all Americans.

Yesterday, Kennedy, 76, fulfilled that pledge, making an emotional return to work, hugging longtime Senate friends, and welcoming the chamber's newest members on the first day of the 111th Congress.

Perched behind his seat in the rear of the chamber - a coveted spot, since it is close to the doors to the Senate cloakroom, where deals are done - a relaxed Kennedy chuckled and chatted with fellow senators and staff. Except for the cane he now uses, he looked much the way he did prior to his May diagnosis.
As is tradition, Kennedy walked Massachusetts colleague Senator John Kerry down the center aisle of the chamber when Kerry was sworn in to a fifth term. With Illinois lacking a second senator yesterday, Kennedy also walked alongside his friend Senator Richard Durbin for Durbin's swearing-in.
"It was wonderful to be escorted down by him," a jubilant Kerry said after the ceremony. "It was so emotional. He really looked good. I'm fighting for him."
Kennedy plans to keep a full schedule in the Senate, but may have to miss some events because he is still receiving treatment for his cancer, a spokeswoman said. Kennedy is devoting his time to developing national healthcare legislation, a goal of his for more than four decades.
Kennedy is slated to chair committee hearings tomorrow to confirm President-elect Barack Obama's choice for health and human services secretary, former senator Tom Daschle. Kennedy and Daschle are expected to work closely on an overhaul of the healthcare system.
Even while attending the swearing-in of his son, Representative Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, the elder Kennedy was already laying the groundwork for moving legislation forward.

Surprising a delighted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, Kennedy and his wife, Vicki, joined her for photos to honor the younger Kennedy's election to his eighth term in Congress - but the senator did not miss the chance to buttonhole the speaker about healthcare and other parts his legislative agenda.

"To see him here was wonderful - personally and officially, in every way," Pelosi said. With Kennedy, "it's about family. It's about the occasion. And it's all about work."

Senator Barbara Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, marveled at how "fit" and "robust" Kennedy looked. Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, traded stories with Kennedy about the late Rhode Island senator Claiborne Pell, at whose funeral Kennedy spoke on Monday.

Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, was one of several lawmakers who gave Kennedy a light hug - a friendly gesture Kennedy was forced to rebuff during his brief Senate visit last summer because of concerns about how cancer treatments had weakened his immunity.
Otherwise, Kennedy kept a low profile yesterday, appearing at private events for Kerry's and his son's reelections. He did not speak on the Senate floor.
"I'm glad to be back for the start of the new Congress, particularly in this time of great hope with a new president coming in," he said in a statement. "I was very pleased to see old friends and new ones. I look forward very much to working on the issues that matter most to the people of Massachusetts and the nation."
But Kennedy was quite chatty with his fellow senators, and his presence on the floor, after a long absence, appeared to cheer his colleagues.
All through the chamber, Kennedy found himself face to face with fellow survivors of illnesses, reminders that even the most dire health conditions have not stopped his colleagues from pursuing their Senate work.
He shook hands heartily with Vice President-elect Joe Biden, who has suffered two brain aneurysms. Ailing Democratic Senator Robert Byrd was pushed in a wheelchair as he escorted fellow West Virginian Senator Jay Rockefeller down the aisle to take his renewed oath of office.
His own hand shaking, the 91-year-old Byrd grasped Kennedy's hand and brought it gently up to his own cheek in affection.
There was Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter, who has survived lymphoma, and Arizona Senator John McCain, a skin-cancer survivor. Former Democratic senator Max Cleland of Georgia, who lost three limbs in Vietnam, moved around the chamber floor in his wheelchair, greeting old friends. Senator Tim Johnson, a South Dakota Democrat who collapsed in December 2006 from bleeding in the brain, took his third-term oath of office yesterday from his wheelchair.
Kennedy, in his 46th year in the Senate, is not slowing down, said Mikulski, recounting how Kennedy got right down to business, discussing ways to get more education spending into the economic stimulus package.
"He said, 'Barbara, we've got a lot of work to do.' We're both fired up," Mikulski said.

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http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/01/07/eager_to_work_kennedy_makes_emotional_return/

TED KENNEDY VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-BFkSgwDBM

Ted Kennedy: "I Feel Very Well"

Senator Ted Kennedy answered a few questions for CBS News' Wyatt Andrews about today's confirmation of Tom Daschle and his health. "I feel very well," the lion of the Senate said, adding, "some days are better than others."

(...) In reference to the Daschle's confirmation hearing before the Senate Senate Health, Labor & Pension Committee, Kennedy said, "we had a great hearing today, an imporant one on health issues, those are enourmously important. You could tell there was broad interest on healthcare and healthcare issues."

"We are looking to continue after this. We had good hearings yesterday and the day before but today was enourmously important," he reiterated.

"Now a number of us have been tracking how you have been working this through your illness," Andrews said. "Can you give us a sense of when you hope to bring this?"

"We will do that at a appropriate time," Kennedy responded.

"When do you think you will bring a bill up sir?" Andrews pushed.

In return, the venerable senator said, "thank you very much."

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http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/01/08/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4708362.shtml

Sen. Ted Kennedy, back after cancer battle, presides over hearing for cabinet shoo-in Tom Daschle

Ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy was welcomed home Thursday by Democrats and Republicans as he presided over a hearing for the man he hopes will help him deliver universal health care.

Chairing his first Senate Health Committee session since announcing last year he is battling brain cancer, the patriarch of America's most celebrated political dynasty gave his blessing to ex-Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, a shoo-in, sources said, for confirmation as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

It was as much a day for Kennedy as it was for Daschle, who will spearhead Barack Obama's effort to provide health insurance for every American.

"I want to welcome you back to the committee and congratulate you on being the first to hold a hearing on President-elect Obama's nominees," said Wyoming Sen. Michael Enzi, the top committee Republican. "That's typical Sen. Kennedy fashion to get right into it right away - be first."

"I must say how wonderful it is to see you in that chair again," Daschle agreed.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), another committee member, did not attend the hearing, in keeping with a tradition followed by senators who are nominees for administration jobs. Clinton was preparing for her own confirmation hearing, meeting with members of the Foreign Relations Committee, which will consider her nomination as secretary of state.

(...)

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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/01/08/2009-01-08_sen_ted_kennedy_back_after_cancer_battle.html

Citgo continues support of free heating oil plan

It turns out you'll be able to call Joe for free oil after all.

Venezuelan company Citgo Petroleum Corp. said yesterday it plans to continue supporting a program run by Joseph P. Kennedy II that provides free heating oil to 200,000 low-income households in 23 states, including Massachusetts - just two days after Kennedy said Citgo was indefinitely suspending the program.

(...) "We never stopped the program," Citgo chief executive Alejandro Granado said twice at a press conference yesterday in Citizens Energy's office in South Boston.

Citizens, which had publicized it would start taking applications on Jan. 5 from people who needed help heating their homes, said it thought Citgo's indecision meant the program would be suspended.

"We were put in a position where we were unable to take the applications," Kennedy said. "It took a few days longer than we could manage."

(...) Kennedy would not say whether he talked to Chávez this week, but the former Massachusetts congressman said he discussed the situation with several members of Congress and "did what was necessary to make this work."

US Representative Bill Delahunt, Democrat from Quincy, who helped negotiate the original deal with Chávez at a meeting in Caracas several years ago, said he and other members of Congress personally contacted Chávez after learning the program was in jeopardy.

"It's really important to continue the program," Delahunt said. "In New England, it has been extraordinarily helpful to get low-income people through the tough winters we have had." Delahunt said he thought the program could also pave the way for better relations between the United States and Venezuelan governments. Chávez has been a critic of the US government.

Granado said he talked to Chávez yesterday morning and was given the go-ahead to continue the program. Citizens said it will start accepting applications on Jan. 19 and expects home deliveries to begin two to three days later.

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http://www.boston.com/business/personalfinance/articles/2009/01/08/citgo_continues_support_of_free_heating_oil_plan/

Citizens Energy giveaway imperiled as Venezuela halts its oil donations

January 6, 2009

If you call Joe for oil this year, expect to be disappointed.

Joseph P. Kennedy II, the president of Citizens Energy Corp., said yesterday the Venezuelan oil company Citgo Petroleum Corp. has suspended contributions to the Boston nonprofit's program that provides free heating oil to 200,000 low-income residents and Native American tribes in 23 states, including Massachusetts.

The former Massachusetts congressman, who publicized the three-year-old program in television commercials urging people to call 1-877-JOE-4-OIL, said Citgo will stop participating indefinitely because of plunging oil prices and the global economic crisis, which have crimped its revenue. Last year, Citgo provided roughly $100 million in free fuel, 90 percent of the program's funding.

At a press conference yesterday, Kennedy said Citizens Energy likely will be forced to cut about 20 percent of its heating oil distribution in Massachusetts and halt the program altogether in other states unless it can per suade Citgo to change its mind or can raise money elsewhere to buy oil and fund grants. In addition, he said Citizens would have to lay off 20 staffers.

Kennedy said he has repeatedly reached out to the Venezuelan government, which owns Citgo, in an effort to persuade the company to resume oil donations. He also urged people to write to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Citgo is the US distribution arm of Venezuela's state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, which Chávez indirectly controls.

"We are doing everything we can," Kennedy said. "We're not ready to give up."

Citgo declined to comment and the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, D.C., could not be reached to comment.

Since Citizens Energy launched the free oil program, critics have complained that Kennedy's commercials amounted to propaganda promoting Chávez, a leftist leader who has been highly critical of the United States' economic and foreign policies. Chávez has also cultivated ties with other countries at odds with the United States, including Iran and Cuba. In a speech at the United Nations in New York two years ago, he called President Bush the "devil."

"Maybe now, instead of acting as propaganda tool of socialist dictator Hugo Chávez, Joe Kennedy can focus on simply helping those who couldn't afford to question the real cost behind his heating oil," said Barney Keller, spokesman for the Massachusetts Republican Party.

Kennedy, however, said other US oil companies refused to contribute to the program, even when they recorded booming profits in recent years. And Chávez's ire is directed at Bush, he said, not Americans in general. He added that he doesn't believe Citgo's withdrawal was timed to coincide with Bush's departure from the White House in two weeks.

"It's a financial issue, that's all," Kennedy said.

Mark Sawyer, an associate professor at the University of California in Los Angeles who has written articles and taught classes on Latin America, said the program was part of Chávez's efforts to build goodwill in the United States and other countries.

"He tried to communicate directly with segments of the American population with the understanding that Americans are not monolithic in their perspectives," said Sawyer.

But with the decline in oil prices, he said, Venezuela will have to cut back on its philanthropic programs, reducing Chávez's political influence beyond his country's borders.

Last year, the program offered eligible families up to 100 free gallons of heating oil, and issued grants to Native American tribes to help pay for oil. Citgo had gradually increased its level of funding over the past few years.

Some say the impact of Citgo's decision to stop participating is mitigated by the dramatic drop in heating oil costs. The average price in Massachusetts - currently $2.26 a gallon - is down 52 percent since July, when it peaked at $4.71, according to the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. A year ago, the average cost was $3.32 a gallon.

At the same time, state and federal governments have stepped up subsidies to struggling families through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
"For the first time ever, the program is fully funded," said Susan Kooperstein, a spokeswoman for Action for Boston Community Development Inc., a nonprofit that provides services to low-income residents.

Last year, Kooperstein said, the agency was able to give the city's poorest families a maximum of $865, which bought more than a tank of oil. This year, the maximum has been raised to $1,305, which now buys more than three tanks.

Kooperstein also said the income threshold for assistance has been increased, from $42,400 for a family four to more than $53,000.

"We can now serve people who fall through the cracks," she said.

Residents who need help paying for heating oil can call the state heating assistance hotline at 800-632-8175. Citizens Energy also plans to continue operating a natural gas assistance program, in partnership with Distrigas, that provides a $150 utility bill credit to eligible households.

Citizens, which Kennedy founded in 1979, also runs a number of other energy programs, including those focused on wind and biofuels, energy efficiency, and electricity transmission.

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http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/01/06/citizens_energy_giveaway_imperiled_as_venezuela_halts_its_oil_donations/