Kennedy seeking clear run in '06

Although his political account bulges with $4.7 million in cash and he has no opponent in sight, US Senator Edward M. Kennedy is on a fund-raising rampage from coast to coast, a campaign that Democratic supporters say is designed to leave him without a Republican opponent for the first election in his four decades in the Senate.

The Kennedy fund-raising bandwagon comes to Boston March 4, when the senator and his family are throwing a birthday party for him expected to raise at least $500,000. Kennedy, who is turning 73, is pressing the state's Democratic establishment for the event that will hit donors up for a minimum $1,000 donation.

But the birthday party is only a small part of Kennedy's travels across America as he attempts to build an $8 million campaign fund by the end of this year. A similar $1,000-a-head birthday fund-raiser is scheduled next week in Washington, helping Kennedy raise close to $500,000 more, aides say.

He just returned last weekend from a swing through California, where he held a series of events that yielded several hundred thousand dollars. In October, a fund-raising party in New York City raised him another several hundred thousand dollars.

Those close to Kennedy say he would savor a free pass in 2006, when he plans to seek his eighth full six-year term in the US Senate. They say that by demonstrating a strong fund-raising operation, he hopes to discourage the Republicans and Governor Mitt Romney from fielding a candidate against him.

Kennedy, who was first elected in 1962, came closest to facing no opposition in 2000, when Jack E. Robinson ran against him. Robinson initially had the support of the state GOP, which later backed off as controversies unfolded about his background.

To further strengthen his campaign, Kennedy is dispatching a Senate staff member, Marty Walsh, to Boston next month to head up his campaign organization. By the summer, the senator expects to have several full-time campaign staff members at the Boston headquarters, the earliest he has begun a reelection campaign in memory, advisers said.

The GOP's prospects for a candidate appear bleak at this early stage. Sensing Kennedy is beyond their reach, the Massachusetts Republican Party and Romney admit they are focused elsewhere.

''Picking on the most popular Democrat in Massachusetts is not where we would put our first priority," said Darrell Crate, chairman of the state Republican Party. ''Nobody gets a free pass, but it's not lost on me he's a very popular guy. He's our blue-state fixture."

Even Romney, who in 1994 gave Kennedy his toughest challenge and still got thrashed, is showing no strong enthusiasm for a battle with Kennedy. He has confided to at least one party insider that it is almost useless to find a credible GOP candidate for the US Senate next year.

Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney's director of communications, said the governor expects the GOP will have a full slate of candidates, but noted the governor's priority is his own reelection. ''Unlike last year's legislative elections, when he raised money and supported candidates for office, he will be up for reelection in 2006 and his focus will be on what he expects to be a tough campaign of his own," Fehrnstrom said.

In fact, the governor has in recent months offered warm praise for Kennedy. The two are working together on issues facing Massachusetts, including an effort to persuade the Bush administration from making drastic cuts in Medicaid funding for the state and another campaign to save Hanscom Air Force Base from closure.

But their true feelings may be less warm under the surface. Kennedy still harbors some deep resentment over Romney's personal slight in 2003, when the governor's press secretary compared the charges of boorish behavior toward women leveled at then-California gubernatorial hopeful Arnold Schwarzenegger to what she said were similar rumors Romney had heard about the senator but never raised in the 1994 campaign.

Romney immediately called Kennedy at home to apologize, but first had to get an earful from the senator's angry wife, Vicki.

Tim O'Brien, the state Republican party's executive director, insisted that he and other GOP leaders are actively looking for a candidate to run against Kennedy, but admitted they are not having much luck so far. ''Finding someone to run against a Kennedy in Massachusetts is a difficult task," he said.

In practical terms, some GOP leaders feel it is in the party's interest to let Kennedy walk freely into his eighth term. For one, the party needs to focus its resources on other areas in 2006 that have far better potential for the GOP -- Romney's reelection, if the governor decides to seek another term, and other potentially winnable races, such as for attorney general, which Democratic incumbent Thomas F. Reilly is vacating to run for governor.

Furthermore, GOP strategists say, Romney and the Republicans, as they struggle to rebuild the party, may well want to avoid a campaign in which an energized and angry Kennedy mobilizes the Democratic constituency in 2006, drowning out any Republican chances for gains in both statewide races and in legislative districts.

To be sure, Kennedy, often described as Massachusetts' liberal lion in winter, is showing no signs of retirement. In December, speaking at the launching of his oral history project, Kennedy went out of his way to say that the project should not be interpreted to mean that he is entering the twilight of his career. ''Retirement is not in the cards," said one of his Senate aides.

''He's at the top of his game," said Massachusetts Democratic party chairman Philip Johnston, a longtime Kennedy ally.

Steve Grossman, former state and national Democratic Party chairman and a cochairman of the March 4 event, said Kennedy is following the correct political strategy by stuffing his war chest with donations and gearing up his organization.

''One of the ways to demonstrate strengths to your opponents is to show them you are well funded," Grossman said. ''You don't let your guard down. It is always smart to be out early and demonstrate you are serious."

The Republicans' best bet for fielding a candidate is finding a wealthy person who wants to enter politics and is willing to spend $1 million or more of his or her own money.

The model is Romney, whose run against Kennedy in 1994 gave him the experience and exposure to run a successful campaign for governor eight years later, and Joseph D. Malone, whose 1988 race against Kennedy set himself up for winning the state treasurer's office in 1990.

Romney spent $6 million of his own funds in the race against Kennedy and received national attention when polls showed him running even or slightly ahead of Kennedy early on.

The senator roared back and Romney got only 40 percent of the vote. Malone, knowing he had no chance, was able to raise $1 million and ran a positive campaign against Kennedy.