I submit this diary with care and some trepidation. If the consensus is that it is unseemly and inappropriate, I will delete it.
Inspired by the picture of a smiling, vigorous looking Sen. Ted Kennedy as he left Mass Geneneal this AM to return home, I can't imagine the very hard time he and his family face. Clearly he deserves all the space and peace he needs for his battle ahead.
But having seen his career, his ability to bring opposing forces together, to reach out to the opposition, and the near universal admiration in which he is held, there is perhaps another great role he could add to his stellar career.
Follow me below.
Before the news of his illness, I had already thought that he might play a behind the scenes role in bringing this contest to an end. Although his early endorsement of Obama likely still rankles the Clintons, they do have deep ties.
Sen. Kennedy himself has had experience with bitter presidential primaries. In 1980, he opposed Pres. Carter, and the party went through a difficult race that, although the outcome was clear by the summer, endured into the convention.
The bitterness from that race damaged Pres. Carter. Without suggesting for a minute that this was a parallel to this year, and Carter himself wasn't more vulnerable than Sen. Obama, the race had an impact. Sen. Kennedy's great speech to the convention had the undercurrent of defiance and a less than total concession, and damaged Carter. Their lack of contact and show of solidarity was evident to the world.
Sen. Kennedy then went back to being a Senator - a since has entered legendary status as a legistlator. He gave up his ambition, and became a titan.
He is also the link that takes us from his brothers and himself to Sen. Obama, and I suspect wants as part of his legacy to see a President Obama as one of his priorities as he battles cancer. For him, as with many of us, he wants to help as appropriate. And more than all of us, he has the power.
Again, it is not my intention to be inappropriate or to make the remotest suggestion that he has any obligations now beyond his health and his family. But who better to sit down with Sen. Clinton, try to find out where she is headed. remind her of his 1980 experiences? Although I doubt she can ever come close to replacing his spirit in the Senate, he could point out how gratifying his work has done, how much he has accomplished.
And how much satisfaction it would give him and the country if he were able to use his prestige, influence and experience once again for the good of his party and the country.
If he does nothing, his legacy of course is no less. But if he has it in his power and will to play a role, his influence could be major.