Kennedy kin not running for Congress

By Kate Snow
CNN Congressional Correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Max Kennedy, 36-year-old son of the late U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy, has decided not to run for the congressional seat left vacant by the death of Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Moakley of Massachusetts.

Kennedy, a co-director of a nonprofit environmental organization, cited family priorities as key to his decision.

"This has not been an easy decision," Max Kennedy said in a written statement released Monday. "I have always been passionate about public service. It is a passion I inherited from my father, who believed that service in the betterment of humankind was the highest calling a person could have. But, like him, I am also passionate about my family, and I believe that family takes priority."

The news came as a surprise even to Kennedy's own staff.

"It came as a shock to me because he was really feeling comfortable with himself and his style and his message," said one source. The aide said the staff had been preparing for Kennedy to formally announce his candidacy this week.

"When you're faced -- the weekend before the big moment -- with that final decision, you have to decide whether or not to jump," said the aide. After spending the weekend with his family on Cape Cod, Kennedy decided not to jump.

Kennedy said he met with Moakley several months ago and the two talked about politics, family and the lessons Moakley had learned through a lifetime of public service.

"He told me that over the years he had asked a number of his colleagues, after they retired from Congress, to identify the biggest regret of their careers," Kennedy said. "Not surprisingly, the most illuminating response he received came from (former House Speaker) Tip O'Neill. Tip told him that he could remember all of the major events in the lives of his family that he had missed because of his service in Washington."

Kennedy said those words stuck in his mind as he and his wife, Vicki, focused on the impact that serving in Congress would have on their lives and children.

"Together, we have concluded that now is not the time for me to run for Congress," said Kennedy.

Kennedy, while falling short of a formal announcement that he would run for Massachusetts' 9th Congressional District seat, had made his intentions known and recently bought a home in the South Boston district.

But his potential candidacy had run into trouble amid reports that he stumbled and laughed nervously through one of his first political speeches -- and a report that he was arrested in 1983 with a cousin who is now facing trial on murder charges.

Kennedy was only 17 years old at the time and the charges -- assaulting a Harvard University police officer -- were dismissed a year later. The cousin, Michael Skakel, has been charged with the 1975 bludgeoning death of his neighbor, 15-year-old Martha Moxley.

"It was a mistake made when he was young and he takes responsibility for it," said Kennedy spokesman Scott Ferson, who said Kennedy's decision not to run for the seat had "nothing to do" with the reports of his arrest years ago.

"I think he understands what you expose yourself to with public office and was prepared to do that," Ferson said. "I also don't think he felt any of the coverage was unfair."

A Boston Globe poll released this weekend found Kennedy running almost even with two other Democratic candidates for the position. The poll found Kennedy drawing 22 percent of 400 likely Democratic primary voters, compared with 20 percent for state Sen. Stephen Lynch, and 18 percent for state Sen. Brian Joyce.

An official with the Kennedy campaign said they felt comfortable with that showing and thought the number was fairly high, considering the negative reviews and reports that had recently been published.

Kennedy left open the possibility of running for public office in the future.

Robert F. Kennedy, Max's father and brother of President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Los Angeles in 1968.