THE TELEGRAPH: America's fabled Kennedy dynasty is set to come to an end after the son of the late Senator Edward Kennedy said he would not run for re-election to Congress in November.
His decision means that Washington will soon to be left without a member of the Kennedy clan holding political office for the first time since 1947.
Representative Patrick Kennedy, 42, of Rhode Island, who has battled with drugs and alcohol abuse, is to announce on Sunday that his life is "taking a new direction" and indicated that the death of his father in August was a factor in his decision.
"Illness took the life of my most cherished mentor and confidante, my ultimate source of spirit and strength," he said in a television message as a black-and-white photograph of him as a boy sailing with his father appeared on the screen.
"From the countless lives he lifted, to the American promise he helped shape, my father taught me that politics at its very core was about serving others."
The announcement is another blow to President Barack Obama, coming a month after the stunning upset in Massachusetts when Scott Brown, a Republican, won the Senate seat that Edward Kennedy had held since 1962. >>> Toby Harnden in Washington | Saturday, February 12, 2010
