He is believed to be the inspiration behind Joe Quimby, the skirt-chasing, casually corrupt mayor of the Simpsons' hometown. But now Ted Kennedy has clearly decided to let bygones be bygones, spearheading a campaign to promote the town of Springfield, Massachusetts as the official site of The Simpsons Movie's world premiere.

"We cordially invite all the Simpsons ... to join us in Springfield, Massachusetts," announces the veteran senator in the five-minute promotional video (click on the entry for Springfield, Massachusetts). He adds that the city is a place where the characters will be "able to enjoy some real chow-dah" - a reference to a Simpsons episode in which Quimby's son argues with a waiter over the pronunciation of the word.

The video is Springfield's entry in a competition set up by the Hollywood studio 20th-Century Fox to find a location for the premiere. The winner is set to be announced on July 10 ahead of the "yellow carpet" event on July 26. Thirteen other Springfields are believed to be in contention - including the small town of Springfield, Nebraska, which does not even possess a movie theatre. Springfield, Missouri's official entry is reported to have involved 15 film crews, 9000 extras and 1440 doughnuts.

However, the organisers of the Massachusetts campaign are hoping that the Kennedy factor will carry the day. "Kennedy is our ace in the hole," the film's producer, David Horgan, told the Boston Globe. "The Springfield in Ohio called and said 'I heard you got Kennedy in your video'. I said 'Yeah'. They said, 'It's all over'."

The Simpsons has been set in the fictional town of Springfield ever since the cartoon series debuted on the Fox network back in 1989. But the makers have always been at pains to never specify which state the town is actually set in, leading to fevered speculation among die-hard fans.

A member of the US Senate since 1962, Ted Kennedy, younger brother of John F and Robert F, has become a byword for sexual skulduggery and rampant political liberalism, as well as a bugbear of the American right. Joe Quimby, his reputed on-screen alter-ego, is depicted as an adulterous tax-and-spend liberal with a distinctive New England accent. He runs for office with the campaign slogan, "If you were running for mayor, he'd vote for you."