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Kennedy would like to see me. He came to see me with Lem Billings or maybe he came alone. At any rate, he came to see me and I said that I hoped he'd run for the Senate from New York State. He said well, he was really from Massachusetts and it would be very difficult because people wouldn't accept him. I said, “The truth is you don't have to have lived here for more than 60 days,” is that it?
Yes. You have to have lived here in order to vote. I think you have to live in New York for a year.
But to run for the Senate you have to have lived here for 60 days or a relatively short time. “Actually,” I said, “you're nationally known. You need a political base. You can't run from Massachusetts and New York Democrats need a person who has energy and vitality and who will represent the Democratic point of view in the Senate. You have a nationally known name and you need a political base, and New York is the best political base there is. If you ever want to be President, you've got 90-odd delegates in the Democratic convention if you've got the support of New York State.”
A good beginning.
And, “This is a beginning.”
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