 Kennedy had also been suspended from Harvard University for academic cheating, which he admitted in a press conference in order to preempt McCormack supporters from making an issue of it.Despite his public service, McCormack was largely seen as the underdog going up against the fame and fortune of the Kennedy family political machine, which flooded the media with ads promoting Kennedy's Senate candidacy.McCormack's campaign, supervised by his father Edward Sr. and uncle John W., could afford few radio and newspaper ads, nor a paid staff, and being forced to handle many of the campaign details caused the younger McCormack to lose seven pounds by the end of the contest.