Despite woes, Kennedy strong in R.I.

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- Michael Scull had seen the look before. The unfocused stare. The shaking hands. They reminded him of a member of his family who had made the long, 12-step climb back from trouble.

But as the 16-year-old introduced US Representative Patrick Kennedy at a recent candidates forum at North Kingstown High School, he was a little taken aback to see such symptoms.

Scull had followed the news of Kennedy's early morning car crash last spring at the Capitol and his public admission of an addiction to pain pills. He wondered that day in North Kingstown if the Democratic representative was getting adequate care as he balanced the demands of a reelection campaign and recovery.

Still, he'd probably vote for Kennedy if he could, he said.

"I am a person who feels people should have second chances," said Scull, of Jamestown. "If he can do the job, he should keep the job. If he can't, he should step down and take a break for awhile."

On Tuesday, Rhode Island will almost certainly vote the same way -- and with few questions asked.

When voters in the First Congressional District are asked how they feel about their congressman being on one year's probation, they praise him for being in recovery. Ask Kennedy's Republican opponent, Jon Scott, an ebullient former counselor at a group home, and he says, "I choose not to go there." Kennedy himself says the fallout from the crash has worked to his benefit, at least on this issue.

"The additional press I have gotten from this has obviously given me a bigger platform," he said. "Clearly, people identify me as someone who knows what they are talking about when it comes to alcohol and addiction."

On the campaign trail, Kennedy's difficulties are more often greeted with compassion than criticism.

"This is a man who had a problem and he has taken major steps to get treatment," said Felix Onyemaechi , 35, of North Providence, after Kennedy passed through a Subway restaurant in the Lincoln Mall. "Many people have his habits and are on the streets. But Kennedy aspires."

"It's been a real non-issue in this campaign," said Darrell M. West, a professor of political science at Brown University and author of a biography of Kennedy. "People no longer see substance abuse as an unusual problem. If you're in recovery, well, you're helping yourself, so good for you. And if you're in recovery and you're on the Appropriations Committee, then it doesn't matter at all."

There are, to be sure, predictable factors behind this climate of good will. Rhode Island is one of the most Democratic states in the nation. Kennedy has easily won reelection since he assumed his seat in 1994.

And some feel that Kennedy has delivered. A member of the House Appropriations Committee, Kennedy won $80 million in federal money for his district in fiscal 2006, and a total of $655 million over the past five years, according to his campaign.

Meanwhile, the crash and its aftermath remain part of the campaign's background hum. Kennedy, who checked into the Mayo Clinic two days after the accident, said he had been under the influence of the sleep medication Ambien and another medication for a stomach flu. He told police he was trying to make it to a vote when he drove his Mustang into a barricade at 3 a.m. on March 4. Kennedy pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of drugs and was placed on probation for one year.

The day after the accident, the chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Party, Patricia Morgan, called on Kennedy to step down, saying that he was "not currently capable of fulfilling his responsibilities as a congressman."

Her suggestion went nowhere, and Representative James M. Ramstad, Republican of Minnesota, declared her comment "a slap in the face" to all recovering addicts. Ramstad is himself a recovering alcoholic and agreed to be Kennedy's sponsor in his substance abuse program.

Scott, 40, says he hasn't raised the issue because, "It's not appropriate."

But Scott, who trailed badly in one recent poll, is quick to point out that if he had raised the issue of Kennedy's abuse problems, things might have been different.

"Many folks have asked me to go down that road," said Scott, "But I am in this race to raise the level of dialogue and to bring some honor to it."

Kennedy said he was anxious at first about undergoing recovery in the public spotlight. But people on the campaign trail, he said, have been a constant well of whispered support.

"So, you're not alone. It's a feeling of being free, free!" Kennedy exclaimed, jumping slightly in the air. "I don't have to hold it inside anymore."

Some voters say his public troubles make it easier to identify with a Kennedy, who at 39 still has the thick red hair and the awkward demeanor that marked him when he became the youngest member of Congress at age 27.

Certainly, at the Smithfield Senior Center in Smithfield, R.I., that was the consensus. After speaking to a group of seniors recently, Kennedy was surrounded by several women cooing, "Patrick, our Patrick." The only contrary note was struck by one man in an armchair, who snapped his newspaper in annoyance.

"That guy has too many problems," declared the man, a 90-year-old retired boiler installer, who asked not to be identified. "His hands are shaking like leaves."

Kennedy has also grown circumspect about when he will discuss the issue this political season. Shortly after the accident, Kennedy declared that his would be "the most transparent recovery that anyone's ever seen, either in Rhode Island or almost nationally." Kennedy declined an interview with the Globe, though he has spoken to other papers.

In early October, Kennedy gave an interview to the Providence Journal about his recovery. In it, he said that his experience at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, which he attends almost daily, have helped him become a better public servant and a better man.

Scott leapt to criticize Kennedy for even bringing the issue up. "I find it a bit bizarre that [Kennedy] wants to play the saga out so publicly," he said in a press release.