What Ted Kennedy Meant to Me

In November of 1979, I volunteered to work on Ted Kennedy's Presidential Announcement swing through California. I busted my rear driving the press around and making sure their luggage got to their rooms. But I was a volunteer just happy to be part of my candidate's announcement.

Three days later a call came that changed my life forever. I was 23 and I was on the National Staff of Senator Kennedy's Presidential campaign.

The whole way to Iowa I was pinching myself -- the most progressive voice in the Democratic party was running for President -- probably on a mission destined to fail -- challenging the sitting President of his own party -- and I was relishing the fight on behalf of what would later be called the Democratic wing of the Democratic party.

I learned a lot in the long campaign of 1980. Kennedy taught me loyalty, brotherhood, to never give in -- and to always fight. After every painful loss he pressed on -- and we on his staff pressed on with him.

I reported to John Sasso (who would run Dukakis' campaign for President) and to Paul Tully (who would die of a heart attack campaigning for Bill Clinton in 1992) and Mike Ford who remains my brother to this day.

I went from Iowa, to New Hampshire, to Illinois, Arizona and Texas. Became a delegate tracker in Michigan and stood on the floor of the 1980 convention as the Kennedy floor manager for the Texas and Utah delegations with Bill Carrick (who would run Dick Gephardt's campaign for President).

I was standing on the floor of Madison Square Garden when Kennedy ended the campaign with the words "for all those whose cares were our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." And the message was soldier on.

Years later I would run Howard Dean's campaign for President. But the journey began with and because of Ted Kennedy.

I would work for Vice President Mondale in the 1984 campaign for President and then I went back to work for Kennedy again - this time at his Fund for a Democratic Majority where Paul Tully and I would spend our official time working to elect a Democratic Senate in 1986 and every minute after work planning Kennedy's potential 1988 presidential campaign. It never happened.

Instead, he built a record as not just a great progressive voice but as what many regard as the record of the greatest Senator of his generation and perhaps of the last century.

Over the years I would name my youngest son Ted. I would work for Bob Shrum, who wrote the 1980 convention speech for Kennedy and who launched one of the most successful media firms in the Democratic Party, and I would become a Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School at Harvard.

I loved Ted Kennedy, he had so much courage, he wasn't without fault - but he internalized pain - his own and others. It was like he took the pain of everyone he met and somehow engulfed it as a happy warrior with a fierce determination to heal it. I always felt you could see that in his eyes - and it motivated him to make people's lives better. He was so completely human - in a way you don't see very often in someone who had built up so much power. He used that power to lessen the pain and burden on others even when he could not at times lessen his own.

About 18 months ago he called me and asked me to stop by his office. We talked for an hour or so - mostly about Barack Obama's campaign for President. He was so excited about Obama's chances of winning the Presidency -- we talked politics and then we talked about his other love - sailing. He talked about getting away to go sailing on the Chesapeake Bay on my boat the "Ida May". But we both knew it was wistful thinking - he would be on the road campaigning for Obama's victory.

I walked out of his office but decided to step back in for a second. I turned to him and said "Hey Ted, there is something I've been meaning to say to you all these years -- You changed my life -- I just wanted you to know that."

About a week later he had the seizure that would lead to the diagnosis of his brain cancer. And he fought on like he always had before.

I loved Ted Kennedy. It is an honor to have worked for him and to have learned to fight on from him. He changed my life and the lives of so many millions of Americans. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

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Comments

[bantrybay]

Ted Kennedy meant the world to me! Rarely have we seen such a courageous man who championed for the underdog, poor, disabled and less fortunate His crown in heaven is laden with jewel for the good works and miracles he accomplished on earth. We are a better world because of Senator Ted Kennedy. I have regretted this day forever, you are sorely missed in my heart. Love and Thanks!

[Wotopian]

They had a good quote from Kennedy on one of the tribute shows last night, a comment on the decline of reasonable debate (in the Senate?):

“there were those who saw the glass as half-full and those who saw it as half-empty, but we all agreed that the level was in the middle. Now we can’t even agree that there is water in the glass.”

It reminded me of something that I heard Joe Trippi say about the press/media's lack of interest in showing us things that would reveal the truth. If memory serves, the example Joe gave was that of a televised heated debate concerning a glass of water in the room where the debate was taking place with one side claiming that the glass was more than half-full and the opposing side claiming that the glass was less than half-full. All that had to happen for the TV audience to make up its own mind as to which side was telling the truth was to have one of the cameras be pointed at that glass - yet at no time was this done. The point, I think, was that this is the choice the press/media often intentionally makes. They'd rather see a contentious debate and controversy over some matter than make the effort to have a simple journalistic investigation that would quickly and clearly establish what the facts are on the issue. Did I get this right Joe?

[TJCole]

We liberals, progressives educated economically and morally sound members of our society have never had or been given less voice and or exposure than since Obama took office Joe we are going backwards in this country and not forward...­Obama has split the left obfuscated the issues and handed us over to the banksters and right wingers...

I worked for Robert Kennedy in the New Jersey primary when only 16-17 years old before I could even vote myself and remember and kept up that fight and perspective that he envisioned and instilled in so many of us all these years but even here if they post what I write the criticism and animosity towards those of us with a real background and perspective is incredible­...

The Kennedys' weren't weak apologetic liberals they were fighters and never took their eyes off the prize but we are getting nothing save for Rachel Maddow or Kieth Olbermann at times Dylan Ratigan now too Ed Shultz , to even remind people that the, "Purpose of Government is to Serve The People" not the corrupt bankers and corrupt murdering Oil companies and their subsidiaries like KBR or cold blooded killers hyped up on steroids like Blackwater Xe as Obama is still doing and has done....

It pains me that Obama in fact failed Ted Kennedy and his vision, after being elected threw this issue to the wolves and hyenas allowing it to be torn to shreds, before picking up what little was left...

[creolechild]

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https://www.madashelldoctorstour.com/Mad_as_Hell_Video.html

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[Barton Kunstler, Ph.D. - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you for a beautiful statement about our greatest national politician of the past 40 years. I always admired and wondered at his ability to take such immense personal pain and transform it into a consistent, unrelenting dedication to serve those who most needed a champion. No one - no industry, no lobbyist, no other politician - owned a piece of Ted Kennedy. And it wasn't just because of his wealth - there are plenty of rich people in Congress who have sold themselves off in chunks but not our Massachusetts Senator. As for those aspects of his life that his critics continue to harp on - he experienced more than his share of tragedy and the noteworthy thing is not that he occasionally stumbled, but that he managed to stand so tall for a compassionate, tolerant, just, and great-hearted vision of our country.

[TurnToTheLeft]

Joe, that was beautiful. Please, "Keep the dream alive!" We must elect more liberal democrats and replace all the blue dogs with real democrats. thank you for you life long work. Know that there is an army of us who are grieving over losing our Liberal Lion - he knew our pain and struggled to ease it. We loved Ted Kennedy.

[MalleusMaleficarum]

Joe, Sorry, but I have a different take on your piece. The article is not about what Ted Kennedy meant to you, it is about what you have done since meeting Ted Kennedy. I was expecting to read a piece about the Great Ted Kennedy, but instead -- I got a lengthy version of your resume which consumes 2/3s of the article. Please, re-write this piece to make it conform to the headline. Thanks.

[ChelseaC]

Joe,
Thank you for sharing.

[eileenflemingWAWA]

I was a kid in 1969, when Teddy drove into Chappaquiddick.

I felt as bad for him as I did for Mary Jo Kopechne and her family and friends, for I knew how easy it was to do something stupid and selfish.

What Senator Kennedy's passing did for me, was remind me of what Robert F. Kennedy said:

"Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, these ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. "

"HOPE has two children. The first is ANGER at the way things are. The second is COURAGE to DO SOMETHING about it."-St. Augustine

Also in '69, Jimi Hendrix sang at Woodstock: "Well, I stand up next to a mountain, and I chop it down with the edge of my hand. Well, I pick up all the pieces and make an island; might even raise a little sand. If I don't meet you no more in this world then I'll meet you on the next one."

And I recalled something stupid I did in the water last May that illuminated to me my violence within- and that death is always closer than we think:

"Teddy, Bobby, Jimi, saints and http://www.wearewideawake.org/wake.org/

[TomDegan]

Good one, Joe!

We are fortunate that Teddy spent all of those years in the senate. That he was hated and scorned by the forces of weirdness is as much a testament to the man's greatness as any example that I can offer. I am told by someone who is at this moment watching FOX Noise (I'm watching MSNBC) that they are focusing more on the man's shortcomings than his virtues. That is as it should be. They couldn't say enough about staunch segregationist Strom Thurmond when he died. In certain instances you can tell more about a man by his enemies than by his friends. No other family in American history would pay a heavier price in the cause of public service than the Kennedys. The fact that for many years he was a heavy drinker and that his judgment was often clouded should be forgiven. Given what he went through, who among us would have emerged from the storm with our psychological make up as intact as his obviously was? After Bobby was murdered in 1968, it's a miracle the poor guy didn't drink himself to death.

His demons notwithstanding, his heart was always in the right place. I'll take Ted Kennedy over any of his colleagues - warts and all. Truth be told, I would have loved to have gotten drunk with the guy. That would have been really cool!

http://www.tomdegan.blogsot.com

Tom Degan, Goshen, NY

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

What a lovely remembrance!

[jmundstuk]

I completely agree with both parts of your post. I think he badly (perhaps mortally) wounded the already damaged Carter by running against him in 1980 and he did redeem himself or make amends by his courageous support for Barack Obama. Once renouncing presidential ambition -- was it his or the family's? -- and devoting himself to the Senate, he achieved what may be greatness.

[jmundstuk]

Sorry, this was meant as comment as below.

[*Diamond Girl*]

jmundstuk: "once renouncing the presidential ambition -- was it his or the family's?" R U for real? What did him in was the "blond in the pond" incident, remember dummy?

[spqesq]

Joe, in reading this piece I am reminded of the impact great men have had in many of our lives. Whether they be fathers, uncles, coaches, legislators, etc., they served as mentors. They showed us the way.

In our lives we've been blessed with mentors that served to fight for those that can't fight for themselves, to advocate on their behalf, to know the difference between wrong and right and work to make our shared world a better place.

It's our turn now.

The torch has been passed.

We must be the role models that we watched so closely for so long. There is no time to flail for leadership. There is no time to blame for our problems. These are our problems. Right now. We must fight, as Teddy did, with grace, dignity, passion and mutual-respect to improve our collective lot. We must teach our sons they are not passengers on this ride. We must do what is right as often and as well as we can to honor our mentors and insure the next generation learns by living example, as we did, and takes up the torch when their time comes with as much courage and vigilance as we were once shown.

[bigmind]

Spqesq. what is with you? Great MEN, FATHERS, UNCLES, SONS? And you speak of grace, dignity, mutual respect, doing what is right, knowing the difference between wrong and right and working to make the world a better place - yet you abrogate all that by excluding females from the equation.

If your sentiments are not motivated by power, then perhaps they are noble. But my experience teaches me that where men glorify maleness, only a power motive exists.

Spgesq, females are not to be stereotyped. Like all of humankind, we exist - temporarily - in bodies, but we are not those bodies. We are, like all of humankind, glorious minds and spirits, each unique and wonderful. GET TO KNOW US. There is no profit, for anyone, in stereotypical assessment.

[MsMsBurning]

It has been difficult for me to forgive Ted Kennedy for trying to split the Democratic Party in that critical year of 1980. I've always felt that this gave Reagan a very large advantage to use that paved his way to the White House, the fallout of which we all feel to this day. Then he redeemed himself in my eyes when he threw his hat in the ring for Obama. I just spent my lunch hour reading the wonderful tributes in the New York Times and I feel the loss of a man in a way that I never thought I could. RIP Sen. Kennedy.

[jmundstuk]

I completely agree with both parts of your post. I think he badly (perhaps mortally) wounded the already damaged Carter by running against him in 1980 and he did redeem himself or make amends by his courageous support for Barack Obama. Once renouncing presidential ambition -- was it his or the family's? -- and devoting himself to the Senate, he achieved what may be greatness.

[johnjmccarthy]

Both Teddy and Bobby Kennedy wrote to me in 1968 while I was a prisoner of the US Army at the military penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, formerly called the United States Disciplinary Barracks or USDB.
The facility was so Draconian, that it was deemed cruel and unusual punishment to be domiciled there and the building was demolished in 2002.

Teddy sent a telegram via Western Union on October 4, 1969 saying: "Chin up. Good news any day now. Ted". Two days later the gates of this hellish prison opened for me but not for thousands of others who continued to languish there for years.

Doesn't that make you want to run right down to the recruiting station and sign your life away?

http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com/id1.html