Born to Run

He is a young-looking 33, and has never held public office. But when Joseph P. Kennedy II, the second of Robert Kennedy's eleven children, announced last week that he will seek the Democratic nomination for the congressional seat to be vacated next year by outgoing Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, he had the weight of history behind him: his uncle John F. Kennedy won Massachusetts' Eighth Congressional District in 1946. "That seat," said another uncle, Senator Edward Kennedy, "obviously has special meaning to our family."

Kennedy's announcement made him an instant--though not necessarily overwhelming--favorite in a field of at least nine potential Democratic candidates, including two well-known local politicians and James Roosevelt Jr., F.D.R.'s grandson. Commented State Senator George Bachrach, one of the top contenders: "Any time a Kennedy enters a race, he automatically becomes the front runner."

That maxim may hearten Ted Kennedy, 53, who is once again casting an eye at another seat with special meaning for the family: the one in the Oval Office. The uncle's ambition could affect the nephew. If Edward Kennedy runs for President in 1988, he will vacate the Senate seat he has held for 23 years, possibly making room for another Bay State Kennedy. Voters in the politically savvy Eighth District, which includes Harvard University and M.I.T., may not want to elect a novice who might start campaigning for higher office within the year. They have grown accustomed to long-term representatives: O'Neill has served since 1952. The usually left-of-center district may also object to the neoliberal tone of Joseph Kennedy's announcement speech: "The days of taxing and spending are over," he proclaimed. "What's needed in Washington is . . . someone who knows how to balance the books, get action and utilize some creativity."

The younger Kennedy has demonstrated such credentials through the Citizens Energy Corp., a successful nonprofit firm he founded in 1979 to provide low- cost heating oil to the state's poor. If he persuades Boston-area voters to send him to Washington, he just might help give Congress its first brother- sister act. His sister Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, 34, a public interest lawyer on leave from her job in the Maryland attorney general's office, is said to be considering running for the Second District in suburban Baltimore, where she has lived for about two years.