Ted Kennedy defies cancer diagnosis to inspire Democrats in Denver

Democratic National Convention
Ted Kennedy defies cancer diagnosis to inspire Democrats in Denver

* Suzanne Goldenberg in Denver
* guardian.co.uk,
* Tuesday August 26 2008 04:36 BST

Edward Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, democratic convention

Senator Edward Kennedy waves at the Democratic convention in Denver. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Ted Kennedy, who for decades has inspired his fellow Democrats with his heart and passion, tonight defied a diagnosis of cancer to make an emotional and unexpected appearance at his party convention.

Kennedy's speech tonight was only his second public appearance since he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour last May.

But the legendary senator has attended all but two Democratic conventions in the last half-century. He made it clear tonight that, while frail, he was not going to be satisfied with a mere video tribute to a political career now in its 48th year.

The crush of the convention floor, the giddiness of activists waving placards, the speeches - Kennedy has loved it all.

"My fellow Democrats, my fellow Americans, it is so wonderful to be here tonight," Kennedy said. "Nothing, nothing is going to keep me away from this special gathering tonight."

The crowd believed it, but there was awareness too that this may well be Kennedy's last Democratic convention.

Kennedy however betrayed no such doubts, and he did not falter when urging the crowd to support Obama's candidacy. "I have come here tonight to stand with you to change America. To restore its future, to rise to its best ideals, and to elect Barack Obama president of the United States," Kennedy said.

"For me this is a season of hope," he said. "This is the cause of my life - new hope."

Kennedy's decision in January to support Obama's run for the White House was a turning point in his campaign. With the Kennedy seal of approval, Obama was adopted as the heir to America's reigning political dynasty.

In his remarks tonight, Kennedy made a reference to that family legacy.

"This November the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans," he said. Then he went on pledge to be in the Senate next January when Obama is sworn in as president.

He was beaming when he entered the stage, steadied by his wife Victoria Reggie Kennedy. And though there was a shaved portion on the left side of his head, a relic of treatment, and Kennedy's jacket hung a little loosely on his large frame, for members of the Massachusetts delegation, just the sight of their senior senator appeared to offer a measure of reassurance.

As Kennedy made his speech for Obama, the crowd erupted several times: Ted-dy, Ted-dy.

"We are all so emotional," said Ana Maria Camarago, who appeared at times on the verge of tears. "There isn't going to be a dry eye here. We are all so used to him being strong."

Like others in the hall, she wore a button with Kennedy's likeness emblazoned with the legendary slogan from his 1980 run for the White House. Kennedy's challenge to Jimmy Carter, who was then president, left the Democratic party ruinously divided. But the slogan has become a mantra for many Democrats of that generation: "The cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."

Though evidently affected by his illness, Kennedy's voice was relatively strong and his voice clear. As he spoke, the atmosphere among the Massachusetts delegates lifted.

"He inspired so many of us to go into public service," said Lida Harkins. Now the majority whip in the Massachusetts house of representatives, she was a volunteer on Kennedy's first campaign for the Senate. "All of us look up to him."

In the tribute, Caroline Kennedy credited her uncle for progressive legislation on civil rights, healthcare and the minimum wage - all the fruits of a career in the Senate that has spanned five decades.

The sheer sweep of that history, made human flesh in Kennedy's appearance, reduced the crowd that only moments before had been dancing in their seats to silence.

There were sighs at the heartbreaking photo of Kennedy with his two older brothers, John and Robert, who would later be assassinated.

When the video turned to footage of an impassioned young Ted Kennedy banging his desk in the Senate, the crowd cheered.

And when the video showed footage, decades later, an impassioned snowy-haired Ted Kennedy asserting access to healthcare as a fundamental right, the crowd roared again.

There were echoes of those famous lines as Kennedy left the stage in Denver: "The work begins anew. The hope rises again, and the dream lives on."
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Senator Ted Kennedy defies cancer diagnosis to inspire Democrats in Denver
This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Tuesday August 26 2008. It was last updated at 09:57 on August 26 2008.


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