Lion of the Senate: When Ted Kennedy Rallied the Democrats in a GOP Congress

Kennedy's voice was an instrument of extraordinary range, stretching in volume from a whisper or a low murmur audible only to the ear at which it is aimed to a full-volume bassoon that can fill a convention hall without a microphone, and in tone, from hortatory, urging the audience on, to rowdy, as if on a roll with a joke, or, on occasion, angry.
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The following is an excerpt from "Lion of the Senate:When Ted Kennedy Rallied the Democrats in a GOP Congress" by Nick Littlefield and David Nexon.

A week after the State of the Union address, Kennedy returned from Hyannis Port to the Senate for the first time since the death of his mother. Daschle and Gephardt scheduled a breakfast meeting at 8:00 a.m. the next day for the joint Democratic leadership of the Senate and House to discuss the Democrats' agenda. Kennedy was invited to arrive at 8:30 a.m. to participate in the discussion of the minimum wage increase. As with everything else on Capitol Hill, the majority party controls the congressional perks, including assignment of meeting rooms. Meeting rooms made available to the minority tend to be small, and this windowless room was packed. Members crowded around a large conference table; on one side sat Senator Daschle, and on the other Congressman Gephardt.

Staffers were crushed together behind their members around the edge of the table and along the wall. As Kennedy entered and was shown to a seat at one end of the table, a senator was explaining that he didn't think it was a good idea for Democrats to be for an increase in the minimum wage at this time because, in view of the elections, it sent the wrong signal. It was "old" politics. It would only help the poor. It had no chance of success.

Kennedy's voice was an instrument of extraordinary range, stretching in volume from a whisper or a low murmur audible only to the ear at which it is aimed to a full-volume bassoon that can fill a convention hall without a microphone, and in tone, from hortatory, urging the audience on, to rowdy, as if on a roll with a joke, or, on occasion, angry. Having had barely enough time to take his seat, Kennedy unleashed a tirade on the subject of Democrats standing up for what they believed in. It seemed to me that he was still on edge, his emotions raw, from the week he had just been through after the loss of his mother. He clearly felt that everything he believed about the Democratic Party was on the line and that this was a moment of truth. All the Democratic leaders of Congress were gathered in one room, and this was his moment to make clear how he felt about the importance of the party fighting to raise the minimum wage. Democrats would either stand for their historic principles or, in the wake of the election, turn their backs on those principles and on the people who had supported Democrats for sixty years. It was as if all the meetings and discussions and strategizing since November 4 came down to this one moment.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing," he exploded. "If there is one cause the Democrats should stand for it is improving the wages of working people. If we are not going to fight for the wages of working people, who will fight for them? When the economy is thriving, and corporate profits are at an all-time high, and CEO salaries are hundreds of times what the average worker's is, who says we can't afford to increase the minimum wage by 50 cents an hour? It is unacceptable in America for anyone to work forty hours a week, fifty weeks a year, and still not be able to lift his family out of poverty. We can't do much about wages generally, but raising the minimum wage is one thing we can do. We know it works, it doesn't cost jobs, it helps women, who make up 65 percent of the minimum wage work force. Who are we afraid of? Is it the National Restaurant Association or the NFIB [National Federation of Independent Businesses, the principal small business lobby]? Isn't it better to raise wages of 10 million Americans than worry about a few restaurant owners in our districts? Eighty-five percent of the public supports raising the minimum wage. The minimum wage today is way below what it should be if it had kept pace with inflation since before the Reagan administration."

He was in full red-faced volume in this small room, as if he were addressing a crowd of ten thousand on the steps of the Capitol. "I can't believe what I'm hearing," he repeated. "The minimum wage will only help the poor, so we can't be for it? Well, if we won't fight for this cause, what will we ever fight for? If we won't stand with low-income Americans, who will? If we can't get behind a measure that has 85 percent popularity in the polls, then our heads aren't screwed on right. We can't be for it because it has no chance of success? Because the Republicans say there never should have been a minimum wage in the first place and they'll fight the increase with every fiber in their being? Well I say, bring on the fight! What better draws the distinction between us and the Republicans? I tell you if we fight for this issue we'll win it, and we'll win it in a Republican Congress. If we don't, we don't deserve to call ourselves Democrats!" When he finished, there was a long silence, as if he had sucked the air out of the room. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois was the first to speak up: "Well, I guess we now understand how Ted feels about this." No one spoke in opposition. "Well, if we're going to do it, what level can we support?" asked a House member. Kennedy urged $1.50, an increase of 50 cents an hour for three years. Others suggested 75 cents over three years, at 25 cents a year.

Kennedy's visit to the leadership meeting took less than half an hour. As the discussion about the size of the increase and how to go about reaching a consensus took over the room, the tension abated, and everybody began to relax. The camaraderie that had been missing among the Democrats returned. When the discussion on the minimum wage was finished, Kennedy got up from the table and left the room with a hearty laugh and a pat on the back from several members sitting by the door. The members agreed that they would meet again to try to reach an agreement on the level of increase the entire caucus could support.

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