The Bedfellows Phenomenon

I was reminded of the politics-makes-strange-bedfellows phenomenon reading galleys of Nicholas de B. Katzenbach’s new book, Some Of It Was Fun. The facetiously titled memoir reminisces about Katzenbach’s service in the Kennedy Justice Department (where I also served, in a lesser role) and in LBJ’s State Department. Reading Katzenbach’s book while watching the strained patching-together of the Clinton and Obama forces provided an intriguing juxtaposition.

As we know, relations between LBJ and RFK were hostile historically, and grew more bitter after JFK’s assassination. While they were both outsized political figures with different agendas and teams, they needed each other, politically. Thus, they danced a strained minuet when, at different times, one was the leader and the other had to follow. When LBJ ran for president in 1964, while RFK ran for the Senate (I worked for Kennedy then as a speechwriter), they had to cavort as allies. LBJ won the state by a seriously wider margin than RFK did. Kennedy went to the Senate, LBJ to the White House. Their personal animosity percolated, though they were political “allies.”

The comparison to that campaign is interesting, as Hillary Clinton — now U.S. senator from New York (as much a New Yorker as RFK was) — will campaign in that state for Barack Obama, her key rival in the primaries, but now the head of the ticket. Everyone sees clearly that their marriage is forced, a political shotgun affair, based on politics and not love, or even genuine affection.

To continue the analogy, LBJ and RFK finally broke their political alliance when the latter ran for president after LBJ dropped out of the race for reelection. Onlookers at the present campaign are aware that if Sen. Obama wins, Sen. Clinton will be relegated to an influential, but secondary, role in the Democratic Party — much like Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) occupied after losing his run for the presidency. If Sen. Obama loses, Sen. Clinton is ready in the wings, but Obama supporters are likely to be as enthusiastic as Hillary’s present reluctant supporters.

At the Democratic National Convention, President Clinton and Sen. Clinton both made dramatic endorsements of Sen. Obama. Their compliments were reciprocated by the nominee and his wife, and were given vast media coverage. Stay tuned. Who doesn’t learn from history repeats it.