Almond Still Considering Kennedy Run (posted June 3, 2001)
Appearing on the WPRI-TV show "Newsmakers" today, Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Almond indicated he still is considering a run against Patrick Kennedy in the first congressional district next year. Although the governor said the campaign would be more inticing if it were a Senate seat, he expressed astonishment that Kennedy's poll numbers in a relatively liberal state have fallen below 50 percent. Speaking of Kennedy, Almond said, "he is potentially vulnerable....Patrick has to change radically....He has to be more than a name and a fundraiser for the national Democratic party."
Almond has not undertaken any polls of his own, but said he had seen others showing Kennedy with a "re-elect" number below 50 percent, a traditional measure of political vulnerability for an incumbent. The governor said he would decide this summer whether to run against Kennedy. The Republican stated that he has gotten lots of calls from out-of-state people offering to hold fundraisers for him should he decide to make the race.
Almond appeared to close the door on a run for Senate against Jack Reed, who is up for re-election in 2002. The governor said he gets along well with Reed and has good relations with him.
