Kennedy's death may rally Dems on health care

The U.S. Capitol is seen in the background as flags fly at half-staff at the Washington Monument in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, in honor of the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) less The U.S. Capitol is seen in the background as flags fly at half-staff at the Washington Monument in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, in honor of the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. (AP Photo/Gerald ... more Photo: Gerald Herbert, AP Photo: Gerald Herbert, AP Image 1 of / 22 Caption Close Kennedy's death may rally Dems on health care 1 / 22 Back to Gallery

In the wake of Sen. Edward Kennedy's death from brain cancer, Democrats hoped Wednesday to drum up bipartisan support for health care reform legislation, which Kennedy called "the cause of my life," without being accused of over-politicizing a time of mourning.

"Ted Kennedy's dream of quality health care for all Americans will be made real this year because of his leadership and his inspiration," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, declared after his death Tuesday. And Conservatives for Patients Rights, one of the main groups opposing Democratic health care reform plans, said it was temporarily suspending its advertising campaign "out of respect to the Kennedy family" and colleagues.

But while Kennedy earned the respect of Democrats and Republicans during his 46-year political career, it is unlikely that bipartisan goodwill will linger long past the tributes running up to his burial Saturday at Arlington National Cemetery, political experts said.

"Polarization is very strong in Washington. There are few centrists," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of public affairs and political history at Princeton University. "So while there may be a lot of good feelings right now, I don't think it will last after Congress returns in September."

Historical precedent

There is historical precedent for Congress to use the passing of a colleague as a rallying cry for a piece of stalled legislation. President Lyndon Johnson frequently invoked the memory of Kennedy's brother, slain President John F. Kennedy, to pass his Great Society social programs in the mid-1960s. But Zelizer said passage of social programs like Medicare was more a result of Johnson's skill at muscling legislation through Congress than honoring the memory of JFK.

Still, Democrats in Congress, who have been under attack at town hall meetings on health care during this month's Capitol recess, were aiming to gain momentum for a public insurance option and other elements of their party-backed bills in the House and Senate.

On Wednesday, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., suggested naming the Senate version of health care legislation after Kennedy. California Young Democrats told its supporters to call California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and "ask her to vote for health care for all," one of Kennedy's longtime goals, while liberal activist Ralph Neas, who leads the National Coalition on Health Care, said conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats might be inspired to support the legislation in Kennedy's memory.

Conservative bloggers, including Glenn Reynolds at instapundit.com, were predicting that Kennedy's passing would be a "Wellstone memorial on steroids." In 2002, conservatives criticized a 20,000-person memorial service for Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone, who died while seeking re-election, as being a political rally for Walter Mondale, who was seeking to replace him.

"For whatever reason, liberal Democrats have a tendency to over-politicize events like this," said Keith Appell, a spokesman for the group Conservatives for Patients Rights. "I don't think this will affect the debate at all."

'Stop shouting'

California Sen. Barbara Boxer said she hopes the national reflection on Kennedy's life will lead to a more civil conversation about health care. "What he would want us to do is stop the shouting and start the talking," she told The Chronicle. "What Ted would want us to do is to find that common ground, even if it is a small little patch, and build it into something."

Added Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, an architect of the House's health reform bill: "We just went through a month of dangerous and misleading debate of a very raw political form. Now, the question is, does the country really want to take a pause and remember why Sen. Kennedy initiated this effort almost 40 years ago to bring health care insurance reform to every family?"

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was noncommittal when asked if he would return to the panel's bipartisan negotiations "in memory" of his friend with whom he often cooperated.

"I'll be happy to work in a bipartisan basis any day, any time," Hatch said. "But it's got to be on something that's good and not just some partisan hack job."