Senator Edward Kennedy’s health has transformed President-elect Barack Obama’s plan to reform national healthcare into a legacy project capping a nearly 50-year Senate career.
This is the sentiment from one of the most important
Washington
D.C.
newspapers, Roll Call, after interviews with Congressional members from both sides of the aisle, along with operatives, and they all believe that the Senator’s brain cancer and that the Senator’s days are numbered, gives a certain amount of urgency to pass something this year.
“Having him there gives this a sense of urgency. And, they appreciate what an effort he’s making personally — with his own health struggles — to be there, and that has value to it,” said Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Kennedy’s closest Senate ally. The Senator has played a key roll in all major health legislation over the last four decades and this will be no exception. All compromises will pass through his office, the bill what ever it becomes will be a “Kennedy” bill.
He is back working in full swing to get something passed, and his colleagues will be deferential to his requests, given his condition.
If you follow the Senator closely over the next few months, the trail will lead you directly to a healthcare reform package.
Roll Call: Legislating the Legacy of a Lion