- Home
- News Grid
- Local News
- Green Hawk
- Business
- Politics
- School Zone
- Nonprofits
- Missing Pets
- Multimedia
- Arts
- Movies
- Outdoors
- Sports
- News Releases
- Columnists
- Blogs
- Opinions
- Classifieds
- Advertise
- Donate
- Partners
Susan Estrich: Sen. Kennedy Made His Mark
He was not a natural.
He did not have the gift that President Bill Clinton had, that President Barack Obama has, the gift of making whatever he said sound smart and moving.
The first time I wrote “talking points” for him, for a floor statement on something 30 years ago next week, I hid in the back of the Senate gallery as he mumbled his way through it, adding “uhs” instead of verbs. I saw what America did in November of that year, in that famous Roger Mudd interview, which sounded like my floor speech.
He was not what you would call a great “student,” the way Mike Dukakis was and Hillary Clinton is, someone who could consume information, demand more, the smartest kid in the class who actually enjoys reading policy tomes. He enjoyed wine, women and song until he met and married the woman he loved.
I learned to write short memos working for the senator. Say it in a page, now-Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer used to say to me when we were putting things in the briefcase that the senator took home every night of his life, as far as I know.
I’ve been to the bridge at Chappaquiddick. He was flawed. He knew that. The world knew that. Whether you forgive him or not doesn’t matter anymore.
The point is, he persevered in the face of it. I don’t know how he got up in the morning sometimes, much less why he would want to look in that briefcase every night. He had every advantage, but also every humiliation.
People made fun of him when he became a senator. He gave them ammunition. Both of his brothers died. He was responsible for the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, and then he failed to alert authorities and take responsibility. A spoiled, lazy preppy would have stayed home. He worked. He became great at what he did. He cared passionately about the people he was trying to help, the people on society’s bottom rung, and he dedicated his life to them. That was it. It was his blessing.
He started out way ahead in 1979, and then he was humiliated in Iowa and New Hampshire. He kept fighting. The Democrats lost control of the Senate, and we moved into even smaller offices.
The senator decided to take “ranking” (ranking member, to lead the defense) of the Labor and Human Resources Committee instead of Judiciary because he wanted to lead the fight for the poor at a time when the Reagan Revolution was understood as a means to end public welfare programs. We would get three or four votes. Out of 100.
Most of the people who had worked on the campaign drifted away. He was never going to be president.
He worked.
Rock stars generally don’t last in the Senate, starting with John Kennedy. Too much work, too slow, too little juice. Getting something accomplished takes a remarkable amount of tedious work. Rock stars who become senators either run for something else or retire on the job. They certainly don’t make a mark.
The senator took a few of us out sailing with his mother in the summer of 1980, before the convention. He introduced me to her. She looked right through me, absolutely uninterested in whether I was the first woman whatever, and treated him like he was about 13 years old.
He shook his head, and we went back to talking about what he cared about. We were fighting to put a plank favoring national health insurance on the Democratic platform.
Keep the rudder true.
— Best-selling author Susan Estrich is the Robert Kingsley Professor of Law and Political Science at the USC Law Center and was campaign manager for 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis. Click here to contact her.
Comments
Noozhawk's comments are moderated, but by posting here you accept your responsibility to follow our rules as part of Noozhawk's shared online community. Please keep your comments civil and helpful. Don't attack other readers personally, and do not use vulgar, abusive or discriminatory language. Use the "Report Abuse" link if a comment violates these standards or our Terms of Use.
» on 08.28.09 @ 09:31 PM
Why does this woman continue to get published?
You don't have permission to flag this entry.
» on 08.29.09 @ 01:06 PM
“He cared passionately about the people he was trying to help, the people on society’s bottom rung, and he dedicated his life to them. That was it. It was his blessing.”
But he didn’t care too much about that girl on the bottom of the river in his car, and I’m sure none of his estate will go toward helping those on the bottom rung.
Of course Old Ted knew how to stay in office - vote for every govt program that might direct money to “those on the bottom rung” because that’s where all the Democrat votes are - then go have a few more drinks with some more nekkid wimin without your pants.
Lifetime achievement? Ride your brother’s coattails - act like a champion of the poor, steal from the contributors and producers and pass out presents to the low life slackers.
You come out smelling like a rose, maintaining a lifetime office, and dying looking like some kind of hero to all of those who think stealing from those who work and giving to those who don’t is a beautiful thing.
What’s so hard about that? Don’t worry, he’s replaceable.
You don't have permission to flag this entry.
» on 08.29.09 @ 01:11 PM
“The senator took a few of us out sailing with his mother in the summer of 1980, before the convention.”
Let’s see, 30 years ago, Susan Estrich must have been what, 16? I wonder how many of the “few of us” were young girls in bikinis? And Susan thought he was interested in her being the “first woman whatever” ha ha ha ...No wonder his mother treated him like he was 13 years old, I’m sure he never stopped acting that way. A man of privilege stooping down from his lofty perch to help the underprivileged, what a joke.
You don't have permission to flag this entry.
» on 08.30.09 @ 02:51 PM
Actually, I thought this was one of Estrich’s best columns. She shares some of her own background and expertise.
She also offers a very nuanced sketch of Kennedy, someone she used to work for.
The drinking, the skirt-chasing, the youthful arrogance and indiscretion, the shame
and humiliation, the profound failures, are all there, clear as sunshine.
But unlike some of Kennedy’s hateful-even-in-death critics, Estrich also recognized
another side to Ted Kennedy.
That was a man who accepted blame, took responsibility for his personal and moral failings, then spent the rest of his life seeking atonement.
Sometimes it was by trying to help others in need, whether the many nieces and nephews who’d lost parents, or his colleagues in the Senate (regardless of party).
Other times it was looking out for the average men and women who make up America.
There are probably some Noozhawk readers for whom the right to vote or Medicare
are not important. Some who don’t care whether their employers offer private health
care, or pensions, or the chance to belong to a union. People who never encounter
bad luck, the poor, the sick, the weak, those whose skin or accent makes them
appear “different” from us.
Maybe those readers truly don’t appreciate what Kennedy tried to do, with
mixed results.
But there’s no need to knock Estrich for reminding us.
If Kennedy had many personal flaws, we should remember that there are very few, if any, Mother Teresa’s in Congress or the White House.
So if that’s what angry readers are looking for, they are probably doomed to perpetual disappointment.
You don't have permission to flag this entry.
More Local News »
Susan Estrich: Ten Reasons Gingrich Shouldn’t Drop Out of Presidential Race
Without him, politics wouldn't be the same — and neither would Mitt Romney
Susan Estrich: California Among States Taking Second Look at Death Penalty
It's time for a reasoned debate focused not on whether a candidate is 'tough on crime,' but on cost and effectiveness
Susan Estrich: For Christmas or Hanukkah, Stay True to Who You Are
Family beliefs and traditions should be held sacred
Susan Estrich: Welcome Home to the Troops — and President Obama
Obama shows flashes of the style and substance that excited the nation in the last campaign
Susan Estrich: It Was Time for Protesters to Un-Occupy Los Angeles
People have the right to speak out, but the movement tested the limits of appropriateness
Weather: Fair 54.0º
Search Noozhawk »
