Jack Schlossberg is Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg’s son, the only grandson of President John F. Kennedy, and nephew to the late JFK Jr. Jack is 33 years old and he decided, last year, that he would run for Congress in New York. He got some national attention because of his name and his family, obviously, but the few times I paid attention to him, he did NOT sound ready for primetime. When he was asked about Love Story: Carolyn Bessette & JFK Jr., his convoluted answer was absolutely bonkers. Still, people expected him to at least make it through the Democratic primary. He did not.
Standing backstage at a darkened, half-filled club in Midtown Manhattan, Caroline Kennedy tried to seem cheerful on Tuesday night, even as it became apparent that her son, Jack Schlossberg, would fall far short in his bid to win a House seat.
“I think he’s done a great job,” Ms. Kennedy said of her son, praising his passion and eloquence, adding that she believed he had no regrets about his candidacy. “He just said he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t try. Because he’s so concerned about what’s going on.”
Minutes earlier, the crowd — perhaps a hundred supporters, many young and some from outside the New York City district Mr. Schlossberg had hoped to represent — sat mostly quiet as Mr. Schlossberg rushed through a brief speech, reading from a stack of papers. He joked about his age, led a chant of “Let’s go, Jack” and nodded to perhaps the most famous quote from his grandfather, John F. Kennedy.
“All of us asked not what our country can do,” Mr. Schlossberg said as he finished his speech, “and what we can do to help our city.”
He did not concede in his speech, and still had not by night’s end. But the results were clear: Mr. Schlossberg would not be going to Congress.
For a first-time candidate, Mr. Schlossberg seemingly had it all: a scion of the Kennedy family, once America’s most famous political brand. Young and handsome, much like his grandfather, the progenitor of Camelot. He was well connected, earning endorsements from Democratic royalty like the former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, and old-money rich, able to pour his own fortune into a campaign he said was, in part, about the evils of money in politics. And in an age in which Democrats have often played catch-up with Republicans online, Mr. Schlossberg had a vibrant social media presence, presenting an oddball and decidedly opinionated persona that drew attention whenever he posted.
When early polls showed him in front of a crowded field of candidates in New York City’s 12th Congressional District, it seemed the race was Mr. Schlossberg’s to lose. As it turned out, he lost it. Once considered a favorite, Mr. Schlossberg, 33, landed in third place in a Democratic primary in one of the nation’s most liberal districts, now held by Representative Jerrold Nadler, the veteran Democrat, who is retiring. Micah Lasher, an assemblyman who had been endorsed by Mr. Nadler, won the primary.
The NYT asked whether Jack’s defeat is a bellwether for the loss of Kennedy-family influence in politics, or whether it’s more about the current (Trump-dominated) political climate. But the Times also points out that Schlossberg ran a chaotic, unserious primary campaign which alienated a lot of Democratic voters. I think it’s good for our country and the state of modern/local politics that a Kennedy scion can’t just waltz into a primary and immediately get everything handed to him. It’s a shame for the Kennedy family too – if Jack had run a more sober, mature campaign, he probably could have been a burgeoning political superstar. I doubt Caroline Kennedy is that upset about it though – the last thing she wants is a son in politics.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
