'What have you become?' Chris Kennedy dodges questions about candidacy for governor

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - A big delegation of Illinois Democrats is at the convention in Philadelphia. They say they're excited to nominate Hillary Clinton for president.

But FOX 32 political editor Mike Flannery reports there are local politics in play, too and things have taken a strange turn.

He has a famous family name and he's been traveling all over Illinois exploring a possible bid for the Democratic nomination for governor. But Chris Kennedy talks only to party chieftains like speaker Mike Madigan.

"He's spending time moving around the state, contemplating a possible candidacy for governor," Madigan said. "He and I met. I told him that you'd [Kennedy] make a very good candidate for governor.

Kennedy, who is the son of the late Sen. Bobby Kennedy, delivered a carefully prepared speech Tuesday to a meeting of Illinois delegates at the Democratic convention. It included a line about journalists.

"But the decline of daily newspapers and other media, there are simply fewer reporters than there used to be to tell the rest of us the truth," Kenndy said.

Afterwards, though, Kennedy did what he's usually done for a half-dozen years, as he's explored possible campaigns for several offices. He declined to answer any substantive questions from reporters.

"This is ridiclous, please," Kennedy said. "Please please I don't need to address you. Please leave the elevator and let me go to my meeting. Please do that. Have some decency. What have you become?"