Health Bill Passage a Tribute to Ted Kennedy

'Liberal lion' invoked by both left and right, but what would he think?
By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 24, 2009 6:06 PM CST
Health Bill Passage a Tribute to Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy in March.   (AP Photo)

The memory of Ted Kennedy was a vivid presence today on both sides of the aisle as the Senate passed its version of his signature issue, health care reform. The late Massachusetts senator “remained the Democrats' spiritual floor leader,” Dana Milbank writes in the Washington Post, and almost everyone credited him for the success. The tributes didn't sit well with some Republicans.

John Barrasso of Wyoming cited JFK's Profiles in Courage and hoped “for one courageous Democrat to stand up” and oppose the bill. John McCain noted the “great irony in the constant references to Senator Kennedy, who always began legislation by getting members of the other side of the aisle.” But Max Baucus cried foul, calling references to the Kennedy brothers by opponents of the measure “disrespectful” and “unseemly.” (More Ted Kennedy stories.)

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