much at stake. yet, facing taunts that he was a carpetbagger and haunted by the suspicion that the cheers were not for him but for his lost brother, bobby had trouble finding his political footing. what s the largest minority of hecklers you ve ever had? i don t know. he didn t want to trade on his brother s name. on the other hand, he didn t quite know what to say on behalf of himself. kennedy ended up defeating the popular incumbent senator ken keating by riding on lyndon johnson s long presidential coattails. but even as the new senator joined his younger brother ted on the hill, he was poised for higher office, and everyone knew it. the feeling of most of those who watched him was that his presidential years were almost inevitable.