IT'S A KENNEDY FAMILY REUNION : POLITICAL DYNASTY CUTS HIGH PROFILE IN SECOND HOMETOWN OF CHICAGO.

Byline: Dirk Johnson The New York Times

On his way to the glitzy George magazine party at the Art Institute on Tuesday night, a guest wondered aloud about the number of Kennedys who would be coming.

``Not all of them, I hope,'' said Paul Green, an author of books on Chicago politics, who held one of the coveted invitations, ``or there won't be room for anybody else.''

The Kennedys, it seems, have been everywhere in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention, forming a family brigade that must surely dwarf the size of some entire state delegations.

``There must be easier places to have a family reunion,'' said Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Maryland's lieutenant governor and a daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, after waving hello to cousins across the convention floor. ``But this is a family that loves politics.''

These are high-stepping days for the Kennedy family, whose Q ratings can surely come in handy for Democrats eager to make good television.

``There do seem to be a lot of Kennedys running around this town,'' said Joseph P. Kennedy II, the congressman from Massachusetts, as his twin 15-year-old sons rushed over to announce that their uncle John Kennedy Jr., George's editor, was coming up the elevator.

On the final night of the convention, the stage was crowded with Kennedys. For Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, thought to be on the ropes in his re-election race two years ago, there was surely a measure of personal triumph in delivering a speech defending old-fashioned liberal values. To make it sweeter yet, Kennedy was introduced by his son Patrick, a U.S. representative from Rhode Island and, at 29, the youngest member of Congress.

On the same stage, Joseph Kennedy, who is considering a run for Massachusetts governor, nominated Vice President Al Gore.

And outside the convention hall, it was John Kennedy's George magazine party on Tuesday that was clearly the hottest ticket in town.

Troubles, political and otherwise, seem to have vanished in the flash of the famous Kennedy smile. Dr. William Kennedy Smith, or Willie, as his cousins call him, is here with the rest of the clan, giving relatives rides around Lake Michigan on his speedboat and organizing a game of touch football in Lincoln Park.

Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert Kennedy, held a benefit for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial at the Ritz Hotel on Thursday afternoon, a reception that Kathleen Kennedy Townsend called ``the real family reunion.''

Chicago is something of a second hometown for the Kennedys, the site of the huge Merchandise Mart, which was bought by Joseph P. Kennedy, the patriarch, in 1945. The second-largest building in the United States - second in size to the Pentagon - the Mart is a site for commercial wholesalers and is run by Christopher Kennedy, son of Robert.

The mart, Art Deco style, is the meeting place for the Kennedys, and the building staff has been put on family detail this week - blocking hotel rooms, getting transportation, helping to organize the family comings and goings.

``The staff has prepared for the convention of Kennedys,'' said Christopher, whose crooked smile and reddish hair make him a startling match for his father. ``Of course, it's a group we're happy to accommodate.''

The local ties here go back to the 1950s with the close relationship between Joseph Kennedy and Mayor Richard J. Daley, the father of current Mayor Richard M. Daley. It was here in the 1960 election that Daley worked furiously hard to deliver votes for John Kennedy - too hard, in the judgment of some political historians.

It has long been debated whether Kennedy, without the ``help'' of Daley, would have carried Illinois, a pivotal state in the outcome of the race. Many historians now say that whatever the number of votes stolen for Kennedy in Cook County, they were outnumbered by votes stolen for Richard M. Nixon in the heavily Republican counties downstate.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO Patrick Kennedy, the nation's youngest congressman, i ntroduced his father, Sen. Ted Kennedy, at the Democratic convention.

Associated Press