Skube Column on Ted Kennedy Published in News & Observer

Michael Skube, an assistant professor of communications, had a column published Feb. 1, 2008, in the News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. In it, Skube argues that Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy's recent endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama in the upcoming presidential race is not the coronation that he believes it was portrayed to be in the media.

"There is every reason ordinary Americans should hope for change and for a candidate whose loyalties are to middle-class families and wage earners, not the very rich who have been fattened under George W. Bush. There is every reason to think either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama is that candidate," Skube writes. "But there is no reason to think the imprimatur of Ted Kennedy is tantamount to pinning the tail on the Democratic donkey. Beyond Boston and the Beltline -- and, apparently, the op-ed page of The New York Times -- ordinary Americans don't give two hoots about the Kennedys.

"What's to care about? If the Clintons are yesterday, as many would claim, the Kennedys are the day before."