After a constant barrage of news coverage and a few questions from my own acquaintances asking about my views on Ted Kennedy I thought it appropriate to pay this tribute to The Lion of the Senate.
Few men have likely done more to earn the title of “Senator” in the history of our nation. I say this with all sincerity despite the fact that my own political views are very different from those espoused by Ted Kennedy. Of course I did not know him personally, but based on all the stories that are told of his work in the Senate (and I have seen no cause to doubt any of the accounts) he was a rare example of a Senator who truly understood the nature of the work that elected officials in the senate are called upon to do. Comparing him to others who hold or aspire to hold seats in the Senate consistently results in the others looking like pretenders.
He was well known for his ability to hold fast to his principles while still knowing how to work with people who did not agree with those principles. Our own Senator Hatch is a prime example. Despite any personal weaknesses he was willing and able to stand firm against any opposition to a position he held on principle. I believe it is because of his unwavering devotion to principle that I discovered that when he disagreed with Senator Hatch (who is ideologically closer to me than Kennedy is) at least half the time it was Kennedy that I agreed with – it was when the two of them agreed that I was more likely to disagree.
Perhaps the highest tribute I could give would be to share my belief that, in a nation where more people identify themselves as conservative than as liberal it was the sustained effort of this one principled liberal in the senate for the last few decades that has ensured that out government has moved inexorably toward more liberal positions. I hope that I can one day see a conservative Senator who works as hard and holds to his principles as well as Ted Kennedy did for so long.
That depends on what you mean by “principled liberal.” If this includes damaging the very institutions he had sworn to uphold and inflicting very real pain on others for the sake of one’s pride, all with an ends-justifies-the-means approach, then I guess you’re right.
On the other hand, please consider Don Boudreaux’s take on this matter at http://cafehayek.com/2009/08/ted-kennedys-appetities.html .
You and I both agree that there are some aspects of liberal philosophy that are inherently destructive in the long run no matter how Utpian and high-minded they sound, but what I meant by “principled liberal” was that he did not abandon his liberal ideals for the sake of compromise or political expedience. I would like to see some conservative senators who would hold to their principles and work as hard as Ted Kennedy did in advancing their ideals without sinking into the “pass some bill no matter how much it conflicts with my ideals” mentality that pervades Washington whenever there is consensus about the importance of an issue.
I probably would disagree with almost every political policy Senator Kennedy ever came up with. However, as I reflect on his years in the Senate, the description that comes to mind is: Statesman. Senator Kennedy is a great example of what I want in a Senator. Yes he was a liberal and his political vision seemed to be that government solves all the problems. But he held to that vision and did not waiver from his convictions. Yet he knew how to work with others. His view of American is different from mine, but I never doubted that Senator Kennedy loved the United Stats and all it stands for. That cannot be said about many of our leaders.
In reading tributes to him I find some of the most intriguing coming from Republicans, such as Mrs. Reagan. Those are real testaments to him as a Statesman. Although every conservative fiber in my body is cringing, I think I will miss Senator Kennedy. At least I always knew where he was coming from.