The congressman, first elected to the House in 1994, says "I've worked hard to get to where I am."

01:00 AM EST on Friday, December 31, 2004

BY M. CHARLES BAKST
Journal Political Writer

PROVIDENCE -- U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy yesterday took himself out of consideration for the 2006 Democratic nomination for Senate and said he'd support U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin for the nod if Langevin wants it.

In deciding whether to try for the Senate seat held by Republican Lincoln D. Chafee, Langevin said, "I'm going back and forth."

Langevin said Democratic Sen. Jack Reed had encouraged him to make the bid. Reed did not deny that but said it is Langevin's decision to make. Asked whether Langevin is his first choice for the slot, Reed said, "I don't have a first choice at this point."

At least two other prominent Democrats, former Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse and Secretary of State Matt Brown, also are eyeing 2006 Senate runs. Whitehouse also talks of running that year for governor, an office that eluded him in 2002 when he lost to Myrth York in a primary.

The decision by Kennedy, 37, to skip the Senate race was no surprise. First elected to Congress in 1994, he has been a tireless campaigner for his party, accumulated seniority and, most important, won a seat on the House Appropriations Committee, which plays a key role in spending decisions.

Kennedy yesterday phoned The Journal to say that his House service was "paying off" for Rhode Island and it's best that he keep at it. Kennedy, who called Appropriations "the most powerful committee in the Congress," declared, "I've worked hard to get to where I am. I'm in the groove."

He said he meets regularly these days for serious discussions with members of Rhode Island's business establishment who in his first congressional campaign were skeptical he'd accomplish anything in Washington. Kennedy was a Providence College student when initially elected to the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1988. Running for Congress in 1994 at age 27, he was still routinely called The Kid. He defeated a tough Republican opponent, Kevin Vigilante, and has cruised to reelection ever since.

Kennedy asserted that his Appropriations seat enables him to channel an extra $100 million to Rhode Island every year, two-thirds of it in defense spending at Raytheon and other companies. The rest, he said, goes for items as diverse as band instruments for East Providence students or a health project in Woonsocket.

Asked whether he was forever ruling out the idea of running for Senate, where his father, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, of Massachusetts, has been a legend, the congressman said it was hard to see, say, a decade down the line. By then, he said, he would have accumulated even more House clout. In fact, he mused, "I'll be in the majority." So far in his career there, the Democrats always have been in the minority.

Kennedy said he told Langevin that if he wants to try for Senate, he'd back him "100 percent."

Langevin, first elected to Congress in 2000, is 40. He said yesterday that he has been working on armed services, homeland security, health care and education issues and has been rising in seniority. He said the question is whether he could be more effective in those areas in the Senate.

He said he will be intensifying his conversations with Rhode Islanders next week and also wants to meet with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

"I hope to make a decision, I'd say, within the first few months of this new year," Langevin said. That may seem early to some people, but Langevin said it would take a pile of money to win the Senate seat, and "I would have to get started."

Rhode Islander Reed said his role in talking with Langevin was to give advice. He said he told him that the race would be "challenging, difficult, demanding." Reed said any race against an incumbent who works hard and is well financed is tough. (Actually, Chafee isn't guaranteed of being the GOP nominee; he may have a primary.) But Reed also praised Langevin's talent and record and noted that Rhode Island regularly votes Democratic for president and that Democrats hold three of the four seats in the state's Washington delegation. "It's got great potential for a Democratic candidate," he said.

Meanwhile, J.B. Poersch, who is Reed's top aide but is about to become executive director of the Democratic Senate campaign unit, said he was "disappointed" that Kennedy won't run. He'd have made a "great" candidate, Poersch said, but he added that Langevin would be "fine" and Whitehouse or Brown would also be "very good."

Poersch said he thinks things may fall into place quickly. "I wouldn't be surprised if we found a candidate against Senator Chafee sooner rather than later," he said.