Convention tribute a last hurrah for Kennedy generation

WASHINGTON — Chances are that Monday's tribute to Sen. Edward Kennedy at the Democratic National Convention will end with a clip of his pledge to the 1980 convention: "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."

For many, however, once the last Kennedy brother leaves the American political stage, the hope and the dream will live a little less vigorously.

"The dream will endure as a legacy to the Kennedys," said Richard Reeves, the author of 'President Kennedy: Profile of Power.' "But it is just that today, a dream. It's not the reality of American politics."

Kennedy is being treated for a malignant brain tumor, which means that this could be the last time thata Kennedy of his generation addresses a Democratic convention.

The 76-year-old Massachusetts Democrat taped a five-minute video message recently at his Cape Cod home to be shown at the Denver gathering. But, said Frank Mankiewicz, a top adviser to Robert Kennedy, "I have a feeling he could be there."

Whether he appears or not, the hall will see and sense a coda to one of the enduring political sagas of the past half-century.

The family has been omnipresent in Democratic politics since John Kennedy's insurgent vice-presidential bid electrified the 1956 convention. He lost, but the strength shown by the first-term, 39-year-old senator vaulted him to national prominence.

From that moment on, Kennedys provided eye-watering moments at Democratic conventions that few other American politicians could match, albeit moments that didn't always benefit the