Per The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room, the former First Lady issued the following statement on the passing of the Lion of the Senate:
I was terribly saddened to hear of the death of Ted Kennedy tonight.
Given our political differences, people are sometimes surprised by how close Ronnie and I have been to the Kennedy family. But Ronnie and Ted could always find common ground, and they had great respect for one another. In recent years, Ted and I found our common ground in stem cell research, and I considered him an ally and a dear friend. I will miss him.
My heart goes out to Vicki and the entire Kennedy family.
Whatever you think of him, “finding common ground” was a distinct skill of the Senator’s:
… Kennedy was considered one of the most effective legislators of the past few decades, especially in his ability to cross party lines to get legislation passed.
… as partisan as he could be, Kennedy also was known for the partnerships and friendships he forged with Senate Republicans. Utah’s Orrin Hatch, Sam Brownback of Kansas and Mike Enzi of Wyoming all worked closely with Kennedy on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Kennedy was also known to work easily with the GOP’s 2008 presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. The immigration bill that Kennedy and McCain co-sponsored in 2007 had the support of President Bush, but it could not overcome objections from Senate Republicans.
Kennedy’s affability has been recognized even by his most devout opponents. Case in point, former and prospective presidential candidate Mitt Romney:
In 1994, I joined the long list of those who ran against Ted and came up short. But he was the kind of man you could like even if he was your adversary.
Reminds me of a story Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) once told a group of executives about the late Rep. Bill Emerson (R-MO); how — when Lincoln was a freshman member of the House, well before she ran and won her Senate seat — Emerson invited her to barbecues at his home, hosted by he and his wife. Per Lincoln, Emerson told her something along these lines: “We may be from different parties and different states, but we can still get along.”
On so many levels, there is little to no comparison between Ted Kennedy and Bill Emerson. But they shared at least this one trait in common: Both men recognized (even if imperfectly) what too many of us seem to have forgotten: that “the other” is not necessarily “the enemy.”