Pundit shies away from saying the candidate's name

Charlie Cook, columnist and founder of the Cook Political Report, recently wrote a column handicapping competitive ’06 U. S. Senate races. In the middle of it we read :

Inside the Beltway, the open Democratic seat in Maryland, where Paul Sarbanes is retiring, is getting considerable attention. Republicans have an even-money shot at holding that state's governorship, but the Senate race is a more difficult proposition. Maryland remains a very Democratic state. Gov. Robert Ehrlich is the first Republican since 1980 to win any statewide office, and many observers say his victory was mainly due to the extraordinary weakness of the 2002 Democratic nominee.

And who was that extraordinarily weak Democratic nominee?

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, at the time Maryland’s Lieutenant Governor. The oldest child of the late Robert F. Kennedy, Townsend went through the campaign stumbling from one mistake to another. She told an Hispanic group that she favored requiring Maryland’s schools to teach “hispanish.” When it appeared her support in the African-American community was not as strong as it needed to be for her to win, she began pushing affirmative action proposals even Rev. Jackson hadn’t thought of.

It’s interesting that Cook couldn’t quite bring himself to say her name. I wonder if he thought doing so might offend the Kennedys. He wouldn't be the first pundit to shy away from making Uncle Teddy mad.

And can you blame Cook? Have you ever seen one of those Ted Kennedy rages at a Senate hearing where he doesn't like the witness or nominee's background or statements?