I was talking to state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-West Manchester, a little bit earlier about Ted Kennedy. We agreed that he's a guy who really defied expectations.
I'm 42 -- a few years older than DePasquale. I first became aware of Ted Kennedy as a prominent figure back in the late 1970s, during his rivalry with Jimmy Carter.
After that, I remember his status as a walking punchline in the 1980s. That was after his failed bid to get the presidential nomination.
The prevailing perception at the time was that Ted was the Failed Kennedy. His older brothers, cut down relatively early in their lives, all inhabited a mythical realm in the cultural consciousness.
Ted had to suffer the indignity of living in the real world. He was the overweight, hard-drinking one who coudn't hack it, and whose very existence somehow sullied his family's legend.
Yet you could make a pretty convincing argument that he had a far more lasting impact on our culture than even his brother John. In the decades when Bobby was a symbol for the America that could have been, Ted was in the Senate getting things done.
The term "elder statesman" found its way into a lot of news broadcasts today. And whatever you think of Ted Kennedy personally, it's one that appears to fit.
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