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A Kennedy we could relate to
Why Ted Kennedy was special
We've been tricked. Ted Kennedy was taken from us before we were ready to let him go. Sharply, it feels like our hopes for a decent health care reform package (with a public option) went with him.
In a very special way, Ted belonged to us, beyond the obviously significant way his brothers did. Because he was deeply flawed, he was more like the rest of us. But he also emerged from the many tragedies of his life to become the single most important Congressional legislator of his generation. Perhaps, at the base, we cheered the emergence of a decent, honorable hero that in some small way each of us would have liked to become. In truth, he was our champion.
His zest for battle— from the football field at Harvard to the halls of Congress— impressed allies and adversaries alike. Perhaps, as his biographer Adam Clymer has noted, Kennedy's ability to work across the "aisle" was particularly significant. Political enemies became personal friends. He was a master of politics as the fine art of compromise.
I feel blessed that you, Ted, unlike your brothers, were allowed a full life. Maybe, just maybe, major health care reform can be achieved to honor your memory.
I thank you, Teddy, for your time among us.
In a very special way, Ted belonged to us, beyond the obviously significant way his brothers did. Because he was deeply flawed, he was more like the rest of us. But he also emerged from the many tragedies of his life to become the single most important Congressional legislator of his generation. Perhaps, at the base, we cheered the emergence of a decent, honorable hero that in some small way each of us would have liked to become. In truth, he was our champion.
His zest for battle— from the football field at Harvard to the halls of Congress— impressed allies and adversaries alike. Perhaps, as his biographer Adam Clymer has noted, Kennedy's ability to work across the "aisle" was particularly significant. Political enemies became personal friends. He was a master of politics as the fine art of compromise.
I feel blessed that you, Ted, unlike your brothers, were allowed a full life. Maybe, just maybe, major health care reform can be achieved to honor your memory.
I thank you, Teddy, for your time among us.
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