Georgia Politicians Reflect on Ted Kennedy

By Rose Scott

Atlanta, GA – Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin says Ted Kennedy represented what she calls the best in American politics:
((I recall his engagement in getting the King Holiday I recall his leadership on issues around education and I marvel at his ability to work within a political environment and bring people together from different points of view))
Mack Mattingly was a freshman Georgia Republican Senator in the early eighties. It was at that time Kennedy was looking for co-sponsors for the bill to make Martin Luther King Junior's Birthday a national holiday:
((and it wasn't long thereafter that I called him; and said I wanted to sponsor the legislation, and he was sort of shocked at the time. But I did not sponsor it for the reason, any other reason than it was the right thing to do. And I think that's the way I probably explained it to ted back then. He knew how I felt and was very appreciative of it))

At the time of Kennedy's death, Congress is gripped by differences on healthcare reform.

Mattingly says efforts would have made more progress had Kennedy been able to attend Senate sessions this year.
He says Kennedy would have gotten his fellow Democrats to work out a bill that would have attracted some Republican support.
And that's what Georgia democratic Representative John Lewis thinks Kennedy's presence would have been vital:

Lewis says even as a young senator Kennedy was not afraid to speak against discrimination even if meant being unpopular:
((he spoke up
Perhaps that can be traced back to 1968 when a young Ted Kennedy spoke at the Democratic Convention in Alaska just days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
((what has become of our land weakness in ourselves))

Ted Kennedy served in Congress from 1962 until the time of his death.