Kennedy

Ted Kennedy was the embodiment of the progressive wing of the Democrat Party during my entire conscious lifetime. A ferocious speaker, a principled Democrat, a crafty deal maker, a prodigious legislator. A pin cushion for Republicans, he never grew afraid of the moniker "liberal" as so many of his fellow Democrats did during the 80s, 90s, and most of the 00s. He was a champion of universal health care...in 1971. He was passionate about the dispossessed and the inner cities when they had been forgotten (or ridiculed) during the Reagan years and he was the party's conscience during the Clinton years. He overcame the most crushing of tragedies and his own personal flaws to become a true statesman. And he helped usher in the potential of a new liberal era with his endorsement of Barack Obama at a pivotal moment in the campaign.

Harold Meyerson remembers.

Ezra Klein explains.