Democrats appeal for health legislation to honor Kennedy

Democrats "evoked memories" of Sen. Edward Kennedy to urge health care reform, as many acknowledged that his absence leaves a leadership gap.

The Associated Press: "One longtime Kennedy friend and ally, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said lawmakers who want to honor the late senator should 'put behind us the blistering days of August, enter the cool days of September, and start acting like senators again.' Many members of Congress have spent much of the August recess locked in a fierce debate over health care. It remains to be seen whether they get past those differences when Congress returns to work next week." Dodd appeared on NBC's Meet the Press.

"Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., praised Kennedy's ability to reach compromises on major pieces of legislation, but she said lawmakers need to continue working to reduce the costs of health care." Cantwell appeared on CNN's State of the Union (Ohlemacher, 8/30).

Bloomberg: "'Doing nothing and thinking that we're going to get out of this expense is not an option,' Cantwell said … 'Getting true competition into the system and giving consumers choice is what the Democrats and Republicans should be joining ranks on'" (Gaouette, 8/31).

Reuters: "'Here's what Teddy would do. He'd say: "I'm going to fight the fight, and if and when we get to the point that we can't get there, we'll see whether or not we can do enough to make good happen out of this." And you can't make that measurement today,' Senator John Kerry, a Democrat, said on ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos. ... Republican Senator Orrin Hatch emphasized Kennedy's reputation as a deal-maker willing to make compromises to pass needed legislation" (Morgan, 8/30).

Roll Call: "On State of the Union, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) expressed doubt that a public plan would get the support of enough Republicans and questioned whether another Democrat would be able to pick up Kennedy's ability to negotiate across the aisle. Kennedy, he said, 'really almost controlled the base of the Democratic party. They knew he was the leading liberal and if he said "This is what we have to do to do it," they'd cough and sputter and then say 'Well, I guess if he wants to do it this way, we've got to do it'" (Yehle, 8/30).

McClatchy Newspapers reports that Kennedy's loyalists are trying to paint the legislation as Kennedy's legacy: "'Teddy fought his entire life for health care ... and if he had given up in a year, or five years or 10 years, when many people wrote him off, none of the things that he accomplished would have been accomplished,' said Maria Shriver, Kennedy's niece and California's First Lady. She spoke on NBC's 'Meet the Press'" (Lightman, 8/30).

Finally, The Boston Globe reports on Kennedy's successor and the possibility of a Democratic primary: "... candidates will emerge, a race will take shape, and the Kennedy clan will have to reveal whether it wants to keep the seat in the family. All eyes now are on Joseph P. Kennedy II, the former US representative, with family members and political allies expecting him to make a decision very shortly on whether to enter the Democratic primary. … Joe Kennedy's decision is likely to determine the plans of the dean of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, US Representative Edward J. Markey, who is telling associates he is seriously considering running, and US Representative Michael Capuano, a Somerville Democrat who is also thinking of joining the primary race."

"Two other major Democratic figures considering entering the race - Attorney General Martha Coakley and US Representative Stephen F. Lynch, the South Boston Democrat - have told associates they plan to compete for the primary nomination no matter who enters" (Phillips, 8/31).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.