November
2006
Bryan Kennedy bows out of the Limelight Gracefully
Part of me expected Bryan Kennedy to announce another bid for Congress on election night.
Kennedy had a fire in his belly that you want your candidates to have but he lacked only one thing — a district where he, as a democrat, had a chance.
While Jim Sensenbrenner's district is changing, it is not changing fast enough to make it a competative seat for democrats.
Declining to run again, Kennedy said:
Lastly, while many of you have asked me if I would consider a run in 008, I respectfully decline. When I got into this campaign, I knewthat it was a two election cycle effort. I had envisioned spending a ittle over three years with the hope that a political "perfect storm"like 2006 would help propel me into office. I cannot put my family through this again. I will stay involved in the political process and expect to help some of you get elected to office. When the righttime and right position arise I will re-enter the political fray. For he time being, I am content to be a dad again. Take care and once again, thank you for all that you have done.
This is a far cry from election eve 2004. That evening, Kennedy called Sensenbrenner to concede and Sensenbrenner shot back with a condescending and arrogant response. Right then and there, Kennedy made the decision to run again.
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Jim McGuigan
Jim McGuigan
It is not suprising that Bryan Kennedy declines to submit himself and his family to the kind of bigoted attacks they were subjected to from Journal Corporation scandalmongers Spivak and Bice for a third time.
To ridicule him for his Mormon religious views is way beyond the pale (and please note that my family are not Mormons).
Kennedy deserves the thanks of community for his willingness to have offered himself as a candidate for public office.
I honestly did not know Kennedy was a mormon; it’s nice for a change to not know the religion of a candidate for office. He was asking for the people’s votes, so it’s not exactly personal business (and there is little under the sun that is not fair game to a journalist). But then, Kennedy did not insinuate his religious beliefs into the race. Too often, journalism forgets that preserving a secular civil government is one of its primary missions.