The term "mixed feelings" cannot begin to describe my reaction to the death of Senator Edward Kennedy. An awful lot of the legislation he backed did things I thought should be done and had to be done. Not only that but he generally achieved those things the hard way: Though they were Liberal initiatives, he nearly always managed to enlist at least one prominent Republican as a co-sponsor or strong supporter. Given how Washington works these days, he may have been the last elected official who knew how to make bi-partisanship happen.
Against all that, of course, were his personal failings. A lot of us wanted to admire him, respect him and cite him as a leader. He certainly didn't make that easy. Even now, when some might want to mourn him unreservedly, you have to wonder. He's been in dreadful health for months now. Why oh why didn't he step down last year so that his successor could be in or near office today? The Democratic push for Health Care Reform (his pet issue) didn't need this additional complication.
I met him once…in 1979. He was thinking of challenging incumbent Jimmy Carter for the presidency. A supporter of his in Hollywood gathered together a band of comedy writers for a dinner party/sales pitch. The pitch was that if Kennedy ran, we should write jokes for him to punch up his public appearances and help him win the White House.
Late in the evening, Kennedy himself appeared at the party, looking very presidential indeed. When he entered, the mood went electric, and he proceeded to give a brief, utterly mesmerizing speech that captivated everyone present. But he'd already won us all over before that when he circulated around the room, giving every person one of those two-fisted handshakes: his right hand grasping yours, his left hand grasping both right hands, refusing to let you go. Then he looked you in the eye, asked you who you were…and said something to you, pointedly using your name and acting like he'd remember it forever. I guess all politicians master this but he's still the "biggest name" I've ever met in his line of work, so it's the encounter I remember most vividly.
I remember agreeing to join his joke-writing squadron. In that room after that speech, it was physically impossible to decline. But I also recall a certain relief a few months later when he decided not to run. I just didn't want to invest that much time and emotion in a guy who seemed so likely to disappoint us on some level. Since then, of course, they all have.
Someone is bound to write to me and say that the body isn't even cold; that at this time, we should look only at the many great things he did…and they were many. I admired his career and achievements in the Senate and I really admired him that night at the party. I just find it impossible to write about Ted Kennedy and pretend that all that other stuff never happened. Wish I could.