Joe Kennedy III to deliver State of the Union response speech

Democrats looking to rebuild President Obama’s election-winning hope-and-change coalition of women and minorities have chosen a white guy named Kennedy to deliver their chief response to President Trump’s State of the Union.

Rep. Joe Kennedy III, a three-term congressman and 37-year-old grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, has been tasked with outlining Democrats vision for the future in the televised address that will follow Mr. Trump’s speech Tuesday.

Whether he’ll be able to escape the State of the Union response curse remains to be seen.

“I think it is as good a choice as any,” said Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist who worked for Mr. Kennedy’s great uncle, the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. “My only concern is for him personally it is one of the worst jobs in all of politics. After having to handle more than my fair share of these over the years it is one of the worst jobs in politics. You are in an absolutely no-win situation.”

Elaine Kamarck, a member of the Democratic National Committee from Massachusetts, said the selection of the youthful Mr. Kennedy is ripe with symbolism, showing a party trying to connect the glory days of the Kennedy Camelot regime and with younger voters.

She downplayed the idea that the speech was the launching pad for a fourth Kennedy clan member’s presidential bid.

“I don’t think this has anything to do with 2020,” she said. “I think it has everything to do with 2018 and taking back the House for Democrats, and giving the Dems a new and fresh face and giving young voters a reason to turn out in 2018.”

Democrats need to net 24 seats in the House to take control of the lower chamber for the first time since 2011 and if they do political observers believe Mr. Kennedy could assume a larger role in the House, where he has served since 2013.

John McLaughlin, a GOP pollster, said Mr. Kennedy is more appealing than the older, more partisan, Democratic leaders in Congress.

“He is putting a friendly face on a rigid, intransigent, caucus that is not going to give Republicans a vote on any compromise,” he said. “They are more interested in control of the House and Senate and getting rid of Trump than they are in doing anything productive for the American people.”

Glen Bolger, a GOP strategist, said Democrats likely tapped Mr. Kennedy to “juice up the ratings as little bit.”

“I don’t know that the Kennedy name is going to have any magic with voters who have given up the on the Democratic Party,” Mr. Bolger said. “My bet would be, look, it is hard giving the response, not many people pay attention to it, so let’s throw a name up there like Kennedy, since my guess is nobody named Obama wanted to do it, and nobody named Clinton was asked to do it.”

Jane Kleeb, a member of the Democratic National Committee from Nebraska, said her party was smart to avoid picking one of the myriad Democrats already eyeing a 2020 presidential run, particularly after the party appeared to pick favorites in the 2016 battle between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernard Sanders.

Mr. Sanders, meanwhile, announced Monday he would deliver his own response to Mr. Trump on social media, just as he did during the president’s address to a joint session of Congress last year.

Liberal groups in the anti-Trump Resistance, including the Human Rights Campaign, NARAL, a pro-choice group, and United We Dream, an immigration rights group, are planning their own responses.

Rep. Maxine Waters of California, who wants Mr. Trump impeached, will be sharing her thoughts on BET television, and the head of the NAACP will be participating a forum in Washington focused on the perspective of black and urban voters.

“We know what a racist nationalist agenda and president look like — we’ve had them before,” said Derrick Johnson, NAACP president and CEO. “It’s clear whether from his tax giveaways to the wealthy while throwing 13 million off the healthcare rolls or his failure to protect the vote and civil rights, this president agenda represents nothing but pain and suffering for communities of color, the poor, women and immigrants.”

Mrs. Kleeb said it is healthy to have a diverse group of Democrats speaking out.

’”It is not like when I was a kid when you watched the president and then on the same channel you watched what the other party had to say,” she said. “Those days are gone, and I think it is good.”