This is the time for Democrats, and Obama in particular, to show the respect that Ted Kennedy deserved for his 42 years in the Senate by passing the one bill that was most important to his life. It seems to me that the final bill, which should also be named after Ted, should give us the real public option that the great majority of Americans want and that Kennedy had not yet managed to get us.
Ted’s ability to cross the aisle and bring in Republicans… and his support over the years for many of his Republican colleagues on civil legislation… should be stressed by Dodd and the other Senators that Ted trusted with his concerns when the brain tumor kept him out of DC. This is the time to call in the notes that Ted gave out over the years.
It would be, I think, a tremendous embarrassment to the Republicans, like Orrin Hatch and Charles Grassley NOT to support a Ted Kennedy Health Care Bill. And though they would probably come out against it, by using Kennedy’s name here, they would also be defeating Republican challengers in man of the 2010 elections.
I hope Obama realizes the immense opportunity available at this moment.