Martha Coakley, Democrat and Massachusetts Attorney General, has officially announced her candidacy to fill the Senate vacancy left by Ted Kennedy’s passing.

She gets the headstart, but with the long holiday weekend I wonder how many people will be paying attention.

Expected candidate Joe Kennedy will surely announce soon, along with (perhaps) Stephen Lynch of South Boston. According to the Boston Herald, Coakley is starting her campaign fund raising, while Kennedy has $1.7 Million in his war chest; Lynch has $2 Million.

Just what has Joe Kennedy done for the last few years? Appeared in TV commercials while running Citizen’s Energy and talking with his buddy Hugo Chavez.

With his family name, war chest, and sympathetic presence on TV for the past few years, early handicapping has to favor Kennedy. The Citgo/Venezuela/Chavez issue would be a factor almost anywhere, except in Mass (watch a Red Sox game and you’ll see the famous Citgo sign behind center field, visible all over Boston. Do you really think people care about where the oil comes from?)

I wonder if Coakley may really be gearing up for a run for Governor, should a weakened Deval Patrick step aside or go work for his buddy Barack Obama. As for Lynch, he’d be a formidable candidate if he didn’t have to run against a Kennedy.

Who are the Republican candidates? It doesn’t really matter.

*Update: Lynch is in.

**Update: Joe Kennedy has decided not to run. Perhaps he decided to avoid the race to preserve his lifestyle. Perhaps there are skeletons that best remain closeted.

The announcement opens the door for Rep. Mike Capuano of Somerville, Rep Ed Markey of Malden, and UMass Lowell Chancellor and former congressman Marty Meehan. Capuano doesn’t have the statewide name recognition of Meehan or Markey, and it’s probable that only one of them will enter the race:

…Meehan is “still trying to figure things out” and could decide by midweek, a source said.

“He spent the weekend making phone calls to national fund-raisers, and also talking to Capuano and Markey in particular,” said the source, who noted Meehan, Capuano and Markey are closely monitoring one another. Too many like-minded congressmen in the race could hand the race to Coakley.

Said the source, “There’s a game of chicken going on.”

Meehan has a $5 Million campaign account, but Markey has broader national name recognition and fund-raising potential due to his current presence in Congress and sponsorship of high-profile legislation, including the Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade bill. In a three-way contest with Lynch and Coakley, it’s his race to lose.

How does this announcement effect the future political viability of the Kennedy clan in Massachusetts? Without a Kennedy in the limelight their power and influence will slowly diminish, as the old guard fades away and is replaced. Family members with political aspirations will have to re-invent themselves as Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey points out:

In the end, though, the attempts to draft Joe and Vicki Kennedy, Ted’s widow, were more about desperation than sense. Some Democrats have limited imaginations and couldn’t see a future without a Kennedy in the seat. They seemed more interested in the name rather than whether they had ideas and innovation to offer, which is what happens when politicians become more about the nobility than the voice of the people.

One thing hasn’t changed with this announcement: It still doesn’t matter who the GOP nominee is.

*** Even more updates: What’s going on? Markey’s out too!

And it still doesn’t matter who the Republicans offer up.

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