Democrats Fear Every Seat Up for Grabs After Massachusetts Defeat
TIMES ONLINE: Fear and recrimination ricocheted through the Democratic Party today after the loss of a safe Senate seat left Congressmen feeling none of them was secure in the upcoming midterm elections.

Barbara Boxer, a Democratic senator for California, confirmed the sense of alarm spreading through the party. “Every state is now in play,” she told Politico.

Tuesday night’s Massachusetts by-election defeat, in one of the most liberal states in America, stripped President Obama of his 60th, filibuster-proof vote in the US Senate.

Claire McCaskill, senator from Missouri, said: “If there’s anybody in this building that doesn’t tell you they’re more worried about elections today, you absolutely should slap them.”

Mr Obama was scrambling yesterday to save his entire domestic agenda after losing the late Edward Kennedy’s Senate seat, a defeat that dealt a devastating blow to hopes of reforming the US health system.

The loss of an almost sacred Democratic seat, which Mr Kennedy had held for 47 years, was a humiliating upset that showed Mr Obama how the popular mood has turned against his policies and his party, a year to the day after he took office. >>> Tim Reid in Washington and Times Online | Thursday, January 21, 2010

Kennedy Funeral Mass Begins

Tragically Flawed Guardian of the Liberal Flame
TIMES ONLINE: Brilliant orator, radical champion . . . but Edward Kennedy’s weaknesses conspired to stop him reaching the White House

In many ways Teddy Kennedy was the most politically gifted of the three Kennedy brothers. The Benjamin of the family (born 15 years after his brother, the President), he was gregarious where his brother Bobby tended to be reclusive and on his day, as each would willingly testify, could outshine them both as an orator. Yet, despite his 47 years in the US Senate, he never rose any higher than holding the essentially backroom job of Majority Whip — and that only for two years between 1969 and 1971.

Why? The easy answer, of course, lies in the one Native American word, Chappaquiddick. Before the disastrous episode there in July 1969 — when the Democratic senator from Massachusetts drove his Oldsmobile off a bridge, drowning his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, in the process — little, it seemed, could stand between the sole surviving heir to the Kennedy legend and his destiny in the White House. But how he behaved on that occasion, not least his callous delay in reporting the accident and the cold-hearted way in which he went about defending his conduct on television, destroyed that dream for ever. When he eventually did stand for the presidency he was humiliated by Jimmy Carter who beat him in 24 out of 34 primaries and in 20 of the 25 caucuses.

Yet even that defeat, far worse than Ronald Reagan’s when he ran against Gerald Ford four years earlier, did nothing to destroy his status as the keeper of the liberal conscience of the Democratic Party. The possessor of a better voting record on issues such as healthcare, welfare provision and workers’ rights, he regularly topped the ratings awarded by such organisations as Americans for Democratic Action. Untainted by his brothers’ earlier records over Vietnam, he was also recognised as a liberal internationalist, though with some reservations in this country provoked by the green tinge of his views on Northern Ireland. >>> Anthony Howard* | Thursday, August 27, 2009

*Anthony Howard was Washington correspondent of The Observer in the 1960s

Senator Edward Kennedy Has a Brain Tumour
Photo of Senator Edward Kennedy courtesy of the New York Times
BBC: US Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy has a malignant brain tumour, doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital say.

Mr Kennedy, 76, was flown from Cape Cod to the hospital in Boston at the weekend after suffering a seizure.

Doctors says tests reveal a tumour in Mr Kennedy's left parietal lobe. His wife and children have been with him but have not issued a statement.

The youngest brother of assassinated President John F Kennedy, he is one of the best-known Democratic politicians.

"Preliminary results from a biopsy of the brain identified the cause of the seizure as a malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe," doctors Lee Schwamm and Larry Ronan said in a statement.

Mr Kennedy's treatment will be decided after more tests but the usual course includes radiation and chemotherapy, the doctors said.

"He has had no further seizures, remains in good overall condition, and is up and walking around the hospital," they added.

He is expected to remain in hospital for the next few days. Edward Kennedy Has Brain Tumour >>>

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Le sénateur américain Edward Kennedy hospitalisé pour un accident cérébral
Photo d’Edward Kennedy grâce à la Trubune de Genève
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le sénateur démocrate Edward Kennedy, frère du président américain assassiné John Kennedy, a été transporté d'urgence samedi à l'hôpital, victime d'un accident cérébral, a indiqué son bureau du Congrès dans un communiqué.

"Il apparaît que le sénateur Kennedy a eu un accident cérébral ce matin. Il subit actuellement une batterie d'examens au Massachusetts General Hospital afin de déterminer la cause de cet accident cérébral", indique ce communiqué.

"Le sénateur Kennedy se repose confortablement, et il est peu probable que nous en sachions plus au cours des 48 prochaines heures", ajoute le texte.

Selon son médecin, les premiers tests ont montré que le sénateur Kennedy n'avait pas subi d'attaque et n'était pas en "danger immédiat", mais qu'il devrait néanmoins se soumettre à des examens complémentaires dans les deux prochains jours pour déterminer la cause de l'accident cérébral. Le sénateur américain Edward Kennedy hospitalisé pour un accident cérébral >>> | Dimanche 18 Mai, 2008

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