“The modern Democrats are more a party of tragedy than of triumph. . . . And at the heart of the Democrats' quasi-tragic account, at the very center of the wistful might-have-been-but-wasn't-quite-to-be narrative, is the leader who was cut down before he had the chance fully to lead: Robert Kennedy.”-- William Kristol, Time, March 29, 2007

Nearly 40 years after this death, Robert Kennedy remains an iconic figure within the Democratic Party. Activists, pundits and at times the candidates themselves seem irresistibly drawn to comparisons between RFK and the current crop of Democratic frontrunners. However, a failure to grasp RFK’s true political platform, an overemphasis on charisma as the sole factor in the “Bobby Phenomenon” (as it was labeled in a 1966 cover story in Newsweek), and fundamental differences between the current socio-political context and that of 1968 render these comparisons misplaced.

Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential bid rested on four core elements. First, he demanded an end to America’s direct military involvement in the Vietnam War. His public opposition to the war, first clearly expressed in 1967, put him in the minority (albeit a growing minority) on the issue, both within his own party and nationally.

Second, RFK was a passionate advocate for the poor. However—and this is a key fact that is often ignored today—he spoke openly of the damage which he believed welfare had done to the poor in America, calling instead for an anti-poverty campaign that would emphasize education, training, and “decent jobs at decent wages.” In addition, unlike most 60s liberals, Kennedy consistently condemned urban rioters. As his legislative aide Peter Edelman once remarked, when it came to political ideology, Kennedy “defied labels.”

Third, recognizing that the “Solid South” for the Democratic Party was rapidly becoming a thing of the past, RFK sought to reconstruct the base of the party by forging an alliance between lower-class whites and minorities.

Finally, Kennedy possessed a charisma, based partially on his own personality and partially on the legacy of his family’s name, that has been unmatched by any Democratic politician since 1968. In sum, RFK was a charismatic politician whose platform consisted of a progressive vision, cross-cut by a surprising dose of conservatism on some issues.

It is true that certain elements of the campaigns of each of the major Democratic candidates seem to mirror the “Bobby” model. For example, the emphasis that John Edwards places on fighting poverty creates an obvious similarity between his platform and that of RFK in 1968. Clearly, Edwards deserves credit for being the first mainstream candidate since Robert Kennedy to make poverty a central theme of his campaign.

In the case of Barack Obama, the size and enthusiasm of his crowds has been likened by a number of journalists and Obama backers to the Kennedy phenomenon of 1968. Obama himself has tapped the RFK vein: in remarks he delivered in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre, Obama quoted extensively from a speech Kennedy made the day after Martin Luther King’s assassination.

Hillary Clinton’s experience with the RFK legacy has been more complicated, because comparisons between Clinton and Kennedy have been made most often by critics. Between 1964 and 1968, Kennedy was characterized first by his opponents as a ruthless carpetbagger who sought a seat in the US Senate from New York as a springboard to the presidency. Later, he was charged by some on the left with using Eugene McCarthy as a stalking horse to prove the viability of an anti-war candidate in 1968 (former Kennedy aides have long denied this charge, arguing that RFK had made the decision in private to throw his hat into the ring several days prior to the New Hampshire primary). Clinton has faced many of the same accusations that plagued Robert Kennedy, particularly in regards to her long-term political ambitions—specifically that, like Kennedy, she is a carpetbagger who got herself elected to a US Senate seat in New York in order to lay the groundwork for an anticipated presidential run.

Although each of these candidates can claim some commonality with the RFK legacy, in total each falls short of the mark. Edwards lacks both the charisma and political acumen that were so central to Kennedy’s effort in 1968. As for Obama, at this point the heat from his charisma is such that it seems to overshadow the light of his issue stances. Thus, equating Obama with Kennedy relies on an overemphasis on the power of personality. Interestingly, in terms of her willingness to mix-and-match elements of liberalism and conservatism (and thereby to “defy labels”), Hillary Clinton’s ideological platform may be most similar to Bobby Kennedy’s. However, she lacks the boldness of Kennedy, and moreover is likely reticent to portray herself as being in the RFK mold, given the fact that this would invite the projection of the negative Kennedy stereotypes (power-hungry carpetbagger) upon Clinton.

On the issue of the Iraq War, none of the frontrunners have mirrored the political courage shown by Robert Kennedy in the stance he took against the Vietnam War. RFK moved into open political ground by expressing his public opposition to the Vietnam War, a conflict that was accelerated by his brother, and which was prosecuted with vigor by a fellow Democrat, Lyndon Johnson . By comparison, Obama was in a position of being able to oppose the Iraq War from the outset while not having to take any legislative or political responsibility for its origins (he was in the Illinois State Senate at the time the war was authorized); Edwards’s opposition has paralleled the steep decline in public support for the war, particularly among his fellow Democrats; Clinton has failed to carve out a clear position on just where she stands today on Iraq.

Finally, one must keep in mind that the socio-political environments of the two eras are fundamentally different. As RFK biographer Evan Thomas observed in March 2007: “This is not 1968. Those were pre-revolutionary times.” Thomas is speaking of the powerful brew of political, social, cultural, and demographic forces that broke loose simultaneously in American society during the 1960s. This swirling mass of crisis, opportunity and social awareness created conditions that were ripe for a creative politician of Robert Kennedy’s stripe to energize large numbers of Americans. Such conditions are absent today, a fact which strengthens the hand of the cautious and calculating politician, while reducing the incentives for a leader to attempt to travel a truly innovative path to the White House, such as that which RFK attempted to blaze in 1968 prior to his tragic death.