OOC: you're speaking from a 1968 perspective.
IC: I'm a business student at Yale and was very impressed when Kennedy came for a Q&A session. He bantered with us, and it was a light-hearted debate in many ways. There were many McCarthy supporters. Some had to be ejected for being assholes, but the rest asked direct questions and got direct answers. I got to ask a couple of questions, mainly asking whether negotiations or a shift to indirect involvement in 'Nam, and about the fiscal situation.
About the reception afterwards: I got to speak to him in a small group. We asked about the fiscal situation and I got the distinct impression that Kennedy had answers but found the subject mind-numbingly boring, given his one-line answers. Then my friend asked about the PPP system set up, and the tax incentives. That was when our group and Kennedy had an actual back-and-forth conversation, and you could tell it was something he really cared about just from the soft tone of his voice.