BOSTON, MA -- Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was a Democrat's Democrat, so much so that he became a rallying point for those in his party and an object of derision for Republican opponents.President Barack Obama led the Democrats, saying in a statement: "For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well-being of the
American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts."
Nancy the widow of another president, Ronald Reagan, was one of the first to speak out from the Republican Party. "Given our political differences, people are sometimes surprised by how close Ronnie and I have been to the Kennedy family," Nancy Reagan. 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."
Kennedy's death came just two weeks after that of Shriver's mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, one of the senator's siblings. The Senate's top Democrat, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., labeled Kennedy the "patriarch" of the party.
Kennedy's junior colleague, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., lauded him for his cancer fight. "He taught us how to fight, how to laugh, how to treat each other, and how to turn idealism into action, and in these last fourteen months, he taught us much more about how to live life, sailing into the wind one last time," Kerry said.
Senator Ted Kennedy will truly be missed in America and our American politics. He was a strong and legislative fighter, someone who stood the fire and tough times. I am praying for his family and those that was close and dear to him for this said lost.
