Kennedy

Conflicting reports out of Massachusetts today said Sen. Ted Kennedy, (D-Mass.,) suffered an apparent seizure. I hope he recovers. He’s one of our best fighters.

It was both a tragic and triumphant time on the public stage for the liberal lion. And I’m not talking about the death of his brothers. Mainly I refer to the young woman he caused to die and the dissolution of his first marriage.

I am sharing this speech because it exemplifies both his promise and his weakness. It came at the end of a vainglorious and doomed run for the presidential nomination against a president of his own party (he was largely blamed for Jimmy Carter’s loss in 1980, although I think Carter did not do much to help himself in that race.

In giving up the run, Kennedy gave one of the best speeches in the history of American political rhetoric.

1980 Democratic National Convention Address

Delivered 12 August 1980, New York, NY

Ted Kennedy at the 1980 Democratic Party National Convention

Thanks very much, Barbara Mikulski, for your very eloquent, your eloquent introduction. Distinguished legislator, great spokeswoman for economic democracy and social justice in this country, I thank you for your eloquent introduction.

Well, things worked out a little different from the way I thought, but let me tell you, I still love New York.

My fellow Democrats and my fellow Americans, I have come here tonight not to argue as a candidate but to affirm a cause.

I’m asking you — I am asking you to renew the commitment of the Democratic Party to economic justice.

I am asking you to renew our commitment to a fair and lasting prosperity that can put America back to work.

This is the cause that brought me into the campaign and that sustained me for nine months across a 100,000 miles in 40 different states. We had our losses, but the pain of our defeats is far, far less than the pain of the people that I have met.

We have learned that it is important to take issues seriously, but never to take ourselves too seriously.

The serious issue before us tonight is the cause for which the Democratic Party has stood in its finest hours, the cause that keeps our Party young and makes it, in the second century of its age, the largest political Party in this republic and the longest lasting political Party on this planet.

Our cause has been, since the days of Thomas Jefferson, the cause of the common man and the common woman.

Our commitment has been, since the days of Andrew Jackson, to all those he called “the humble members of society — the farmers, mechanics, and laborers.” On this foundation we have defined our values, refined our policies, and refreshed our faith.

Now I take the unusual step of carrying the cause and the commitment of my campaign personally to our national convention. I speak out of a deep sense of urgency about the anguish and anxiety I have seen across America.

I speak out of a deep belief in the ideals of the Democratic Party, and in the potential of that Party and of a President to make a difference. And I speak out of a deep trust in our capacity to proceed with boldness and a common vision that will feel and heal the suffering of our time and the divisions of our Party.

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