Truer words were never spoken....

"If the Democrats run for cover, if we become pale carbon copies of the opposition, we will lose--and deserve to lose." - Ted Kennedy

3 Days to Save Health Care Reform. It's up to you...

The Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy is up for a special election on Tuesday, January 19th. Democrats have nominated Massachusetts' accomplished Attorney General Martha Coakley, and were sitting pretty with the assumption that we could easily hold the seat in this strongly democratic state - my home state, as it happens.

Shame on us.

We of all people should have know that you can NEVER take your voters for granted.

Republicans here see an opportunity to deprive Democrats of their coveted 60th Senate seat and to kill any prospect of health care reform in the process.

It could happen. But not if I can help it. I'll be spending all day tomorrow calling Massachusetts voters from the Democrats Abroad mailing list to make sure they get their ballots in. If you are a Massachusetts overseas voter, here's what you need know:

• Yes you CAN vote in this election. Overseas voters are eligible to vote in all Federal elections, which includes all Senate and Congressional elections - including special elections. Remember, you vote at the last address where you lived in the US.  
• Massachusetts should have sent you a ballot, but if you didn't receive one from the state you can still vote using the Federal Write in Absentee Ballot, which can can get either by filling out the form on http://www.votefromabroad.org/, or by downloading it directly here.
• If you have not yet returned your ballot IT IS NOT TOO LATE. Massachusetts accepts ballots by e-mail and by fax. Again, the tool at http://www.votefromabroad.org/ will tell you where to fax or e-mail your ballot once you've completed the form, or you can call your local election official for more information.As long as you have sent it electronically by election  day - January 19 - your vote should be valid.
• IMPORTANT: if you are faxing or e-mailing your ballot, you must also back this up by sending a postal copy as well. You can find the address of your election official here.

NOT A MASSACHUSETTS VOTER?

You can still help. Get on the phone today and start dialing! The Organizing for America website makes it easy to do this from anywhere in the world. Just go here and register or sign in.

Sniff. Wish Teddy had lived to see that speech

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2009

Below is the text of the letter from Senator Edward M. Kennedy
referenced by the President in tonight’s address to a Joint Session of
Congress.

May 12, 2009

Dear Mr. President,

I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for
your repeated personal kindnesses to me – and one last time, to salute
your leadership in giving our country back its future and its truth.

On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our
family and me in so many different ways. You helped to make these
difficult months a happy time in my life.

You also made it a time of hope for me and for our country.

When I thought of all the years, all the battles, and all the memories
of my long public life, I felt confident in these closing days that
while I will not be there when it happens, you will be the President
who at long last signs into law the health care reform that is the
great unfinished business of our society. For me, this cause stretched
across decades; it has been disappointed, but never finally defeated.
It was the cause of my life. And in the past year, the prospect of
victory sustained me-and the work of achieving it summoned my energy
and determination.

There will be struggles – there always have been – and they are
already underway again. But as we moved forward in these months, I
learned that you will not yield to calls to retreat - that you will
stay with the cause until it is won. I saw your conviction that the
time is now and witnessed your unwavering commitment and understanding
that health care is a decisive issue for our future prosperity. But
you have also reminded all of us that it concerns more than material
things; that what we face is above all a moral issue; that at stake
are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of
social justice and the character of our country.

And so because of your vision and resolve, I came to believe that
soon, very soon, affordable health coverage will be available to all,
in an America where the state of a family’s health will never again
depend on the amount of a family’s wealth. And while I will not see
the victory, I was able to look forward and know that we will – yes,
we will – fulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and
not a privilege.

In closing, let me say again how proud I was to be part of your
campaign- and proud as well to play a part in the early months of a
new era of high purpose and achievement. I entered public life with a
young President who inspired a generation and the world. It gives me
great hope that as I leave, another young President inspires another
generation and once more on America’s behalf inspires the entire
world.

So, I wrote this to thank you one last time as a friend- and to stand
with you one last time for change and the America we can become.

At the Denver Convention where you were nominated, I said the dream
lives on.

And I finished this letter with unshakable faith that the dream will
be fulfilled for this generation, and preserved and enlarged for
generations to come.


With deep respect and abiding affection,
[Ted]

1,000 Words

Teddy

Political analyst Ross Baker reminds us of Ted Kennedy's remarkable Senatorial style:

Like all successful politicians, Ted Kennedy was a great actor -- I don’t think anyone I know could summon up moral indignation more convincingly than he did. I can remember him getting red in the face, and his jowls shaking, and pointing and gesturing and making some very, very emphatic point to one of the Republicans on the committee, whether it was Orrin Hatch or Jon Kyl. And then he would sit back in his chair with kind of a smug smile on his face, and put his arm around Chuck Grassley. He would make clear that none of it was personal.

But those dramatic moments were the ones that convinced all liberals that he was on their side, and after he’d delivered himself of these great and emotionally laden orations, he would say, “let’s deal.” That’s what made Ted Kennedy such a great senator. And if you talk to the other great Senate deal makers, like Bob Dole… he would tell you the same thing: that after all of the histrionics, this was a man who knew the art of the deal in the United States Senate.

Joyce Carol Oates' meditative essay on weighing up Ted's personal failings in the light of his public service is well worth a read:

The poet John Berryman once wondered: "Is wickedness soluble in art?". One might rephrase, in a vocabulary more suitable for our politicized era: "Is wickedness soluble in good deeds?"

This paradox lies at the heart of so much of public life: individuals of dubious character and cruel deeds may redeem themselves in selfless actions. Fidelity to a personal code of morality would seem to fade in significance as the public sphere, like an enormous sun, blinds us to all else.

Kennedy was a Catholic. He believed in the possibility of redemption, and he went after it for all he was worth.

But you know, even his most honorable service on behalf of the most worth causes (civil rights, education, and of course health care) was surely not entirely selfless - I'm sure he loved the game, I'm sure he had an ego on him and liked for it to be stroked. And OK, let's be honest, for much of his life he was a drunk, a philanderer and occassionally a cheat (did you know he was expelled from Harvard for cheating on a Spanish exam?).

On the other hand, he may have done more good for more Americans than almost any man of his generation. He was one of the greats.

I think it's worth remembering that not only is human perfection not attainable, it may not be desirable. Our drives, our uncontrollable passions, our irrational stubborness can be as much the source of our greatness as it is of our downfall. For Ted Kennedy, they were both.

Ted Kennedy Has Died

Sitting at my desk at the PR firm where I am working, after a hectic morning full of meetings, I've just been stunned to hear of the death of Senator Ted Kennedy.

I suppose it's a measure of how much Ted has been a part of our national life that, although this news was in some ways completely expected, it has really shaken me.

Edward Kennedy was never perfect - he had flaws, pettiness, he made terrible mistakes and I'm sure that there is much in his life that he would have changed if he had the chance. He was, in short, as human as any of us.

But he was a tireless advocate for the people who needed his help the most, a genius of the political system, a public servant in the most honorable tradition, and a survivor.

If it were anyone else I would refrain from adding the last part, but since we are talking about the nation's proudest Democrat and the Senate's most assiduous deal-maker, I'm sure he would himself have wanted me to add: that his passing leaves us one vote down on Health Insurance Reform. Passion for this cause was the driving force of his life, and it would be a cruel blow if his loss were to cost Americans the opportunity to finally achieve his dream.

RIP Teddy, we'll keep working for you.

Good News Keeps Coming: Ted Kennedy is in Remission

After a very rough spell, Ted Kennedy appears to be in remission and will be rejoining the senate after Memorial Day.

This is excellent news for the Kennedy family, obviously, and also great news for all Democrats (and Americans) as we gear up for a major piece of legislation on Health Care this summer. Ted's been a leading light on this issue for decades, and it is only fitting that he be in the Senate to help push through this major reform.

Welcome Back Teddy!

Ted Kennedy has returned to the Senate - to a very warm reception from his colleagues.



So glad to have you back Teddy.

UPDATE: And by the way, his return was no mere symbolic gesture - according to Paul Kane of the Washington Post:

Kennedy's return to the chamber yesterday was really something special. Republicans and Democrats alike cheered him on, and GOP senators such as Kay Bailey Hutchison were just awe struck. Plain and simple, Kennedy turned that vote around. They had 59 votes without Kennedy, he showed up and gave them 60 -- the number needed to pass the bill -- and as soon as Republicans like Hutchison realized the bill was passing they lined up to vote yes. They wanted to be on the winning side. Thinking of the Senate like a basketball game, Kennedy scored 10 points yesterday. His arrival meant 10 votes, taking it from 59 votes to 69 votes. I've never seen anything like it in the 8 years that I've now closely covered the Senate.

Call to Action...

Since I mentioned earlier on this blog that Barack would be subsituting for Ted Kennedy in making the commencement address at last weekend's Wesleyan graduation, I'm doubly glad to find that it was a beautiful, inspiring speech touching on one of the issues dear to my heart: public service. It really is worth reading the whole speech, but here are some highlights.

You are about to enter a world that makes it easy to get caught up in the notion that there are actually two different stories at work in our lives.

The first is the story of our everyday cares and concerns – the responsibilities we have to our jobs and our families – the bustle and busyness of what happens in our own life. And the second is the story of what happens in the life of our country – of what happens in the wider world. It’s the story you see when you catch a glimpse of the day’s headlines or turn on the news at night – a story of big challenges like war and recession; hunger and climate change; injustice and inequality. It’s a story that can sometimes seem distant and separate from our own – a destiny to be shaped by
forces beyond our control.

And yet, the history of this nation tells us this isn’t so. It tells us that we are a people whose destiny has never been written for us, but by us – by generations of men and women, young and old, who have always believed that their story and the American story are not separate, but shared. And for more than two centuries, they have served this country in ways that have forever enriched both.

I say this to you as someone who couldn’t be standing here today if not for the service of others, and wouldn’t be standing here today if not for the purpose that service gave my own life.

Obama to Speak for Kennedy

Barack Obama will be replacing Ted Kennedy in the commencement address that Kennedy had been scheduled to give at Wesleyan University this coming Sunday.

Barack says, "Ted and I talked about me filling in for him at Wesleyan University earlier this week. Considering what he's done for me and for our country, there's nothing I wouldn't do for him. So I'm looking forward to standing in his place on Sunday even though I know I won't be able to fill his shoes."

I'm sure that Barack will give a wonderful speech, and I'm sure that the graduating students will be delighted to have him. But I'm sure we all wish, under the circumstances that, Teddy were giving the speech himself.

Teddy Kennedy Update

Bringing me back down to earth from my formerly sunny outlook is the news that Ted Kennedy has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.

The tumor, on Kennedy's left parietal lobe, is known as a "malignant
glioma," according to his doctors, who did not give a long-term prognosis on
Kennedy's health and did not give details about the size or severity of this
tumor. This type of tumor is the most common among adults, and the survival
rates range from one to five years, depending on the severity of the
tumor.

I can't think of much to say about this except how badly it sucks, and how VERY MUCH he deserves to stay healthy long enough to see Democrats take back the White House (and if you think this is an inappropriately partisan thing to say or think, than I suspect you don't really understand Ted Kennedy, whose blood runs blue in several ways).

We're thinking of you, Ted, and sending you good wishes. Lots.

Teddy's OK. For Now...

It seems Ted Kennedy, who was hospitalised over the weekend in apparently serious condition after what seems to have been a seizure, is doing all right for the moment. He's been talking and joking with his family. But he's still in hospital.

I have to say, when I first saw that he was rushed to the hospital with what was then suspected to be a stroke, my heart stopped. I was born and raised in Massachusetts, and Teddy is like... I don't know. Like clear drinking water - you always take for granted that he'll be around when you need him. But he's 76 years old - though he seems a lot younger.

I think he deserves to see Barack Obama elected in November and to live out his presidency, after all he's done Barack and for the country. We're pulling for you Teddy!