'Liberal' Label Oversimplifies Senator Kennedy's Extraordinary Legacy
During observances of the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy, I was reminded of a great truth learned while working as a staff person in the Michigan Legislature: only the news media and the public care about partisanship.
This statement comes from the fact that if one were to dig deeper into Senator Kennedy’s lengthy career as a public servant, discovered would be some remarkable influences he had on policies that were far from the liberal label he’d been successfully saddled with over the years by his enemies from the right. The senator was actually one of the chief architects of deregulation that set the stage for the Reagan revolution which then ushered in the digital communications age and more choices and efficiency in the airline industry. Whether this was an unintended consequence is not something I’m privy to, but I do know that such “blurring” of partisan lines is not uncommon. Some of my friends in Detroit would be surprised to learn that the late Coleman A. Young, the legendary mayor of the Motor City for nearly two decades, started out as a Republican. He switched to the Democrat side after being exposed to—and being a victim of—the worst of the extreme right during the McCarthy era.
Partisanship matters most to special interest groups and news media and popular culture operations that need to find a way to make politics fit in to a nice neat three dimensional story for marketing purposes. The truth is, politics and public policy is very much a fifth dimensional reality and both contain deep nuances. Nothing is as a clear cut as we’d like it to be.
When I worked in the legislature I became very accoustomed to attending and facilitating meetings between Democratic and Republican lawmakers on a variety of issues. And some Democrats were more conservative than some Republicans—it depended on what part of the state the lawmaker came from and even what historical connections were prevalent in that region.
And this brings us back to Senator Kennedy.
While certainly he was a champion of issues that tend to be traditionally embraced by Democrats, he was no dummy by any means. The respect that he received from long time right wing leaders such as Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah spoke volumes about Senator Kennedy’s ability to build coalitions. I would add further that it is likely he imparted to President Obama some of this good, conciliatory, sense to him in the months leading to his death, preparing the country’s first African American president for ushering through (using such methods) the first real health care reform legislation. Despite the vehement resistance to moving forward with this, it is not likely the Republicans have the will (or the political death wish) to be complete obstructionists in this instance.
In fact, if there is really to be a legacy for Senator Kennedy, it will be his posthumus presence on this legislation—an inevitability if Washington is really serious about stabilizing the economy for the next generation.
This statement comes from the fact that if one were to dig deeper into Senator Kennedy’s lengthy career as a public servant, discovered would be some remarkable influences he had on policies that were far from the liberal label he’d been successfully saddled with over the years by his enemies from the right. The senator was actually one of the chief architects of deregulation that set the stage for the Reagan revolution which then ushered in the digital communications age and more choices and efficiency in the airline industry. Whether this was an unintended consequence is not something I’m privy to, but I do know that such “blurring” of partisan lines is not uncommon. Some of my friends in Detroit would be surprised to learn that the late Coleman A. Young, the legendary mayor of the Motor City for nearly two decades, started out as a Republican. He switched to the Democrat side after being exposed to—and being a victim of—the worst of the extreme right during the McCarthy era.
Partisanship matters most to special interest groups and news media and popular culture operations that need to find a way to make politics fit in to a nice neat three dimensional story for marketing purposes. The truth is, politics and public policy is very much a fifth dimensional reality and both contain deep nuances. Nothing is as a clear cut as we’d like it to be.
When I worked in the legislature I became very accoustomed to attending and facilitating meetings between Democratic and Republican lawmakers on a variety of issues. And some Democrats were more conservative than some Republicans—it depended on what part of the state the lawmaker came from and even what historical connections were prevalent in that region.
And this brings us back to Senator Kennedy.
While certainly he was a champion of issues that tend to be traditionally embraced by Democrats, he was no dummy by any means. The respect that he received from long time right wing leaders such as Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah spoke volumes about Senator Kennedy’s ability to build coalitions. I would add further that it is likely he imparted to President Obama some of this good, conciliatory, sense to him in the months leading to his death, preparing the country’s first African American president for ushering through (using such methods) the first real health care reform legislation. Despite the vehement resistance to moving forward with this, it is not likely the Republicans have the will (or the political death wish) to be complete obstructionists in this instance.
In fact, if there is really to be a legacy for Senator Kennedy, it will be his posthumus presence on this legislation—an inevitability if Washington is really serious about stabilizing the economy for the next generation.
posted by Robert McTyre Sr. at 9:48 AM
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