Ted and the Judiciary Committee – Guest Post

Senator Ted Kennedy has served on the Judiciary Committee for the length of his tenure in the Senate — forty-five years. He is one of the most effective legislators in the Senate, and on the Committee. His personal relationships with fellow members from both sides of the aisle, which are not, for him, difficult to cultivate, plays a key role in his incredible legislative successes. He is candid, genuine and convincing in his arguments promoting the causes in which he believes.

I remember a specific time when I worked in the Senate when Senator Orrin Hatch, a conservative Republican, was the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and there was a dust up between the Democratic and Republican members over considering a Democratic bill. Senator Kennedy with buttery ease convinced Senator Hatch to put the bill on the agenda and hold a hearing. Senator Hatch was among the few senators invited to attend John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s funeral, but ideologically he and Senator Kennedy couldn’t be further apart.

Senator Kennedy gives these thundering denunciations on the Senate floor and on the Judiciary Committee on ideological or policy grounds but manages to maintain warm relations with senators who vehemently disagree with him. More common is placing personal blame on senators with distinct views from your own.

Kennedy has passion for improving people’s lives whether they be immigrants or low-income families who can’t afford health care. He is able to convert that passion into real differences for people who don’t have much of a voice in our government.

Thanks to Blythe McCormack for participating in the Blog Off and for such a great post.

Blythe writes of herself:

Because I am a stay-at-home mom now, my involvement in politics has been limited to reading the newspaper, displaying Obama’s bumper sticker on our family car and door-knocking one day in April. Before I was a stay-at-home mother I lived and worked on Capitol Hill, then did a brief stint at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, where I now live.