By about 1pm yesterday, the news on Ted Kennedy looked pretty grim. The phrase “stroke-like symptoms” warranted the large font on Drudge Report, Huffington Post, and every other news site. Photos of a stretcher being lifted onto a helicopter were splashed on every network, followed by the some pretty poor B role footage (here’s Kennedy walking to an elevator in like 1999, here he is shaking hands with an old lady, etc…) John Kerry went to the hospital. Caroline Kennedy flew up from New York (coincidentally on the same plane as TV journalists also rushing to get there – she understandably had no comment for them, but apparently checked her Blackberry for updates continuously). Colleagues, former colleagues, former staff, and friends called into Fox News to talk about what a legendary legislator and great friend Kennedy had been. Brit Hume referred to Kennedy in the past tense twice in one sentence. All the Presidential campaigns had released statements of well wishes and prayers – all optimism seemed forced (Obama: I insist on being optimistic…).
Then things turned up a bit: The family was “guardedly optimistic” about his chances for recovery. Looked less like a stroke than a seizure – no, two seizures. He was up talking and joking with family, watching the Red Sox beat the Brewers in both games of a double header (eh, not all the news was looking up). He’s not completely out of the woods yet – they probably won’t know the cause of the seizure/s until tomorrow, but the evening definitely brought more positive news than the earlier part of the day.
Thinking about it yesterday, Kennedy is probably the closest thing the Democrats have to Ronald Reagan, in terms of symbolism and importance to the Party. With Carter and Clinton, we have a couple of former Presidents, but they’re just Presidents. Carter is well-regarded by Democrats (loved by many), but he just isn’t really emblematic of an era – at least not one that people often look back on nostalgically. Clinton may have a bit of that – the man did pretty much own the ’90s, but he did little to shape the political landscape, and may have (although I doubt it) permanently tarnished his image in this campaign cycle.
But Kennedy has endured. He has both the link to the past (was it Trent Lott or Pat Buchanan who observed that he’s been a Senator for 1/5 of the time we’ve been a Republic?), and an active role in modern politics. He’s overcome controversy with tireless work and a long list of achievements. And he’s gregarious enough to leave an impression (he may have been born into money, but he never had the aloofness problems of John Kerry or most of the other “old money” guys).
For a couple of hours yesterday, there was a glimpse of a post-Kennedy political world. Throughout the day, commentators – without hyperbole – referred to Kennedy as one of the greatest legislators of all time – conjuring up images of Daniel Webster or Henry Clay. Truth is, Kennedy may one day top that list, and it’s nice to be able to consider that while he’s just watching a Red Sox game.
