CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The two sons of Senator Edward M. Kennedy strode into the lobby of the Omni hotel on Tuesday morning and were besieged by delegates, reporters, and well-wishers. Photos were taken, sound bites recorded, and a flurry of handshakes exchanged.

“It’s like he’s still in Congress,” Edward M. Kennedy Jr. quipped as he waited for his brother, Patrick Kennedy, a former US representative from Rhode Island.