President Barack Obama shakes hands with former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, as Connecticut State Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr., watches during the dedication of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston, Monday, March 30, 2015. The $79 million Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate dedication is a politically star-studded event attended by President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and past and present senators of both parties. It sits next to the presidential library of Kennedys brother, John F. Kennedy. From left are, Lott, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, first lady Michelle Obama, the president, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
It’s every New England liberal’s dream: Ted Kennedy Jr. and Elizabeth Warren sharing a stage with President Barack Obama.
The so-called progressive wing of the Democratic Party got a taste of that scenario on Monday, with the freshman Connecticut state senator front and center at the dedication of a $79 million institute memorializing his iconic late father and liberal lion in Boston.
Kennedy, 53, was joined on stage at the star-studded opening of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute by the president, first lady Michelle Obama and Warren, the occupant of his father’s U.S. Senate seat and first choice of many liberals heading into the 2016 White House sweepstakes.
Elected to the Legislature last November, Kennedy has brushed off talk that the state Senate could be a mere stepping stone in his late-blooming political career.
From presiding over a public hearing on municipal phosphorus abatement to staying out of the crossfire over a proposed Costco in Kennedy’s hometown of Branford, the day-to-day duties of a freshman lawmaker are a stark contrast from rubbing elbows with the president and Warren.
For her part, Warren has said publicly that she’s not running for president. The Massachusetts senator got choked up Monday when she spoke of the late Kennedy.