By Brent Budowsky - 08/28/09 07:05 AM ET
Chris Matthews is wrong. Kennedy's legacy will advance again with a mobilization for the public option on the healthcare bill in September, not whispered hints of a Democratic surrender with a progressive president and large majorities in Congress.
Ted Kennedy often said that his greatest mistake was when President Richard Nixon offered a sweeping healthcare reform that was bolder than any president had ever offered, including Democratic presidents, and Kennedy turned down the offer. Kennedy knew that his greatest mistake was not reaching for too much when the opportunity was offered, but for accepting too little when the moment that Nixon offered was at hand.
Kennedy said that sometimes a great party must sail against the wind. Kennedy was a leader in the Senate in breaking filibusters against civil rights bills, calling the legacy of his brother to the service of the high cause of equal justice under law.
