Former Bush Aide Card Not Seeking Kennedy Seat

Former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card will not seek the Senate seat that was held by Ted Kennedy. Card released a statement Friday night that said after careful consideration, a run for the Senate was, “not in the best interest of my family.” Card quickly threw his support to state Senator Scott Brown of Wrentham. Brown, who has been considering a run, scheduled a news conference for Saturday afternoon.

Card was the highest-profile Massachusetts Republican to consider jumping into the special election. Brown said he would not pursue a campaign if Card jumped in.

Card, a Holbrook native, served in the White House under former President George W. Bush. Card, 62, is perhaps best remembered to most Americans as the White House aide who whispered in Bush's ear on Sept. 11, 2001 that a second plane had struck the World Trade Center in New York and that America was under attack.

Although he's tried to distance himself somewhat from Bush, a Card candidacy could have introduced the former president's legacy into the Senate campaign, including the decision to invade Iraq. Kennedy derided that decision as a "fraud made up in Texas" and repeatedly called his vote against the war the proudest moment of his Senate career.

Card had even conceded that his time in the White House would both help and hurt him with Massachusetts voters.