Election Express: The man from Boston
By Catherine Poley
CNN
DORCHESTER, Massachusetts (CNN) -- "Kennedy is the Remedy," "I Back Jack" and "Leadership for the 60s" are just some of the slogans on posters, buttons and pennants that adorn the walls claiming allegiance to John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
These can be seen in "Campaign!" a new exhibit at the John F. Kennedy Library Museum that runs through the 2005 inauguration. The exhibit takes patrons through the 1960 Kennedy Johnson campaign.
"With the Democratic National Convention coming to Boston this July, we wanted to celebrate American traditions of politics and our nation's history and John Kennedy's run for the White House," said Ann Scanlon, library communications director.
One of the treasures of the collection is the painting "Man From Boston" by Jamie Wyeth, which shows Kennedy coming on stage to accept the Democratic nomination for president in front of a golden sea of cheering supporters.
"As Wyatt explains, it's clearly John F. Kennedy," Scanlon says. "But he also was reminded of Robert Kennedy when he did the painting and of anyone who runs for office. So it's sort of a celebration of American politics and those who partake in public service."
With that explanation, it could represent John Kerry, another man from Boston who is set to accept the Democratic nomination in less than a week.
Some media outlets, including CNN, have mentioned a number of connections between John Kerry and John Kennedy; they have the same initials (JFK), are from the same state and are from the same party.
The exhibit draws no comparisons, but Scanlon mentions that Kerry has been supportive of the museum and library and spoken at forums there. "John Kerry also loves the Kennedy tradition," she says. "He embraces it just in terms of philosophy and perspective."
Many museum visitors when asked said they did not see a connection between the two Massachusetts candidates.
"As much as I like Kerry ... I think he would like us to make that comparison, [but] I don't see that happening," said Charles Ingoglin, on vacation from New Jersey. "I think it is a different time completely. The things that made Kennedy so special I don't think exist now ... I think Kerry should be Kerry."
Randal Oates from Houston, Texas, saw only one similarity, "Their hair."
As the election approaches, many voters may be looking at the legacy of one of America's most popular and revered presidents for clues to what they should look for in a leader.
"In Massachusetts, in New England, across the nation and around the globe, people really embrace Kennedy," Scanlon says. "So it's not unnatural for us to look for an energetic vibrant candidate again."
Wednesday, the Election Express heads to the USS Constitution.
A tour of history
 CNN anchor Judy Woodruff |  |
By CNN anchor Judy Woodruff:
Posted: 3:51 p.m. ET
It doesn't have to be the week before the Democratic National Convention to discover that Boston is a city dominated by politics. And there is no surer sign of that than the library dedicated to the presidency of John F. Kennedy -- the last Massachusetts politician to make it to the White House.
I was lucky this morning to be taken on a personal tour by the library's curator, Frank Rigg. What a walk down political memory lane!
Much of the library is dedicated to the Kennedy presidency: There is a replica, for example of Kennedy's oval office desk. (The original sits in the White House, being used by President George W. Bush.)
A new exhibit focuses on Kennedy's campaign to get elected: We saw the typewritten agenda -- with handwritten asides -- for a meeting in the summer of 1959, when then-Sen. Kennedy was planning his run for president. Attending were his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, two brothers, Bobby and Teddy, and a dozen or so others.
They mapped out the plan for campaigning in each state where there was a primary -- there were fewer than a dozen. There were spectacular photographs of Kennedy on the campaign trail in the fall of 1960, in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York City. One photo shows Kennedy and his wife Jackie literally mobbed as they stood in the middle of Wall Street.
What is remarkable is the reproduction of the setting where the first Kennedy-Nixon televised debate took place and the constantly running video of that debate, in black and white.
Rigg reminded me that Kennedy arrived in Chicago three days before the debate to study and rehearse. He knew he needed to prove himself to a public still skeptical about his relative youth and inexperience. Kennedy even wore a little make-up, to improve his already telegenic appearance. Nixon, on the other hand, arrived in Chicago the night before the debate and banged his knee on a car door coming into the debate location, so he was in some pain, and did not wear makeup. The result was the familiar five o'clock shadow on the face of a tired vice president -- in sharp contrast to the robust, healthy and well-spoken junior senator from Massachusetts. That was one other reminder that Kennedy was way ahead of his time when it came to using television and the media to reach the voters.
Knowing that the number of TV sets in use had jumped from 4 million in 1950, to 44 million in 1960, Kennedy's campaign was very conscious of that audience. They used Hollywood stars like Henry Fonda and Harry Belafonte, to conduct interviews with John Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, and paid the networks to run these political commercials on the air. Wonder if George W. Bush or John Kerry would like to try a 2004 version of that?
A new town and new ambitions
|  Dale Fountain, CNN Election Express bus driver |
From Dale Fountain, CNN Election Express bus driver:
Posted: 11:42 a.m. ET
Crew Call: 8 a.m. ET. Temperature: 70 degrees -- a lot better than yesterday.
We have pulled into Massachusetts and are just outside of Boston at the JFK Library.
The rain is gone, but there is a fog out of the city. They say the fog will affect some of our beauty shots. (Remember that TV lingo vocabulary word from January?)
I hear that CNN anchor Miles O'Brien was criticizing my navigation abilities saying that you don't have to go through New Hampshire to get to Boston. Miles is probably the type of guy who doesn't stop for anything on road trips. However, I like Miles, so I will overlook the comment. He is one of my favorite anchors.
The bus got slimed up a little in the rain yesterday, but we can take care of that. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
I have to say, after hanging out with the CNN crew for so long, bus driving is no longer a challenge for me. What I really want to do is direct.
TV lingo term for the day: Mobile Uplink Unit. This is what allows us to beam signals to the satellite and back to CNN.
