The vexing blueprint of ‘celebrity’ presidential politics – The Boston Globe

That warped blueprint of modern politics helped propel Trump to the White House in 2016. It won’t do the same for that phony Democrat with the most famous surname in American politics — unless this country is even more daft than anyone imagined. But it will garner him the headlines he doesn’t deserve for his destructive and inflammatory statements.

I don’t even need to say his name because most people probably already know who I’m talking about. And that’s a problem that reveals just how little was learned after the excessive and careless coverage of Trump’s first presidential campaign. It’s happening all over again.

If not for the name of his storied family, this dangerous fraud wouldn’t merit an afterthought, let alone a headline or second of airtime. But he shares a bloodline that produced a president, two senators (including his assassinated father, whose name he bears), several members of Congress, ambassadors, and others who’ve served in various levels of government.

With the media’s innate love of nostalgia, this walking almanac of conspiracy theories, junk science, and antisemitism will continue to say appalling things wherever there’s an audience, because he knows the media can’t resist amplifying him because of his family name.

Back in 1962, during a Democratic primary debate, Edward McCormack accused his opponent, Edward M. Kennedy, then a Suffolk County assistant district attorney, of attempting to ride the coattails of his older brothers — President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy — into the Senate seat vacated when John won the White House in 1960.

“If his name was Edward Moore, with his qualifications — with your qualifications, Ted — if it was Edward Moore, your candidacy would be a joke,” McCormack said to a roar of applause. “But nobody’s laughing because his name is not Edward Moore. It’s Edward Moore Kennedy, and I say it makes no difference what your name is.”

It made a big difference. Kennedy beat McCormack, who was himself a Massachusetts political nepo baby, 73 to 27 percent. In the general election. Kennedy then defeated Republican George Cabot Lodge by nine points and would serve in the Senate until his death in 2009.

Decades later, Arnold Schwarzenegger parlayed his bodybuilding career into movie stardom, then used that — plus his in-laws’ political muscle when he married Maria Shriver — as a springboard into California’s governorship in 2003. That he had zero political experience when he ran to lead the nation’s most populous state wasn’t a deterrent to voters.

Jesse Ventura, a pro wrestler and radio show host, lacked campaign funding and a political resume, but name recognition turned out to be a more valuable commodity when he ran and won the Minnesota’s governor race in 1998.

Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama — defender of white nationalists and blocker of military promotions — handily won his first political race in 2020. His qualifications? He was a wildly popular and successful head football coach at Auburn University.

All they were selling was celebrity. And they found enough voters willing to buy it.

So far, the majority of people buying what that anti-vaccine crank is selling are Republicans. Even after Famous Name Jr. made antisemitic and anti-Chinese comments about the COVID-19 pandemic — condemned by his own family — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy still allowed him to testify Thursday before a Republican-controlled House committee on censorship.

And according to Politico, Republicans are fueling this embarrassing man’s “secret fundraising success,” with “donor overlap with DeSantis and Trump supporters.” This is nothing more than a cynical attempt to hobble Biden’s reelection campaign.

What’s in a name? Everything, especially for a candidate with nothing else to offer beyond the distraction and disruption Republicans crave. That includes Trump who, as president, once considered bringing in this anti-vaxxer to chair a commission on vaccine safety and integrity.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen. But just wait — this could still take an even more dire turn. Don’t be surprised if Trump, despite his deepening legal troubles, wins the Republican nomination and taps the name now as notorious as his own for his vice president.

Renée Graham is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at renee.graham@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @reneeygraham.