In the beginning, Sen. Bob Kerrey was wary of posing for photographs with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
“I had to ask myself, how would it play in Nebraska?'' Kerrey said Wednesday.
A few years later, another newly elected Nebraska senator faced the Kennedy question.
“The Republican Party for years used Ted Kennedy as the evil, liberal prince of big government and big spending,'' said Chuck Hagel. “He was an unapologetic liberal.''
Kennedy, who died Tuesday, was a political lightning rod whose energy, passion and articulate advocacy for what he believed served America well, Hagel and Kerrey said.
In Nebraska, Republicans invoked Kennedy's name as a sure-fire fundraising tactic and, less effectively, as a way to link Nebraska Democrats such as Kerrey, J.J. Exon and Ben Nelson to liberal policies.
Meanwhile, those Democratic candidates kept their distance from Kennedy during campaigns. The liberal icon's ability to motivate the Democratic base would have been offset by political criticism from Republicans.
Both former Nebraska U.S. senators said Kennedy was a friend because of his decency, humility, sympathy and respect for others.
Kerrey, now president of New School in New York City, said he never met Kennedy before joining the Senate two decades ago. Kerrey's wariness quickly faded.
“I admired his values,'' Kerrey said. “I admired the effort he made to become the most competent and effective member of Congress. I admired his perseverance through tragedy, pain and disappointment. Above all other things, I admired his compassion for the underdog, for those on the wrong side of power, and for those born into poverty.''
Kerrey said Kennedy was one of the few people he has met in public life who could survive without using the pronoun “I.''
“He didn't talk about himself much, his life, his accomplishments, his losses,'' Kerrey said.
Hagel, who now teaches a foreign service graduate school class at Georgetown University, said he was in the Senate for about a year when Kennedy walked down a floor to Hagel's office in the Russell Senate Office Building.
Kennedy asked Hagel to join Harvard University's Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Hagel accepted and has been on the board for 11 years.
“I kidded him that I was his token Republican,'' Hagel said.
A few years later, Kennedy called Hagel's house one evening to ask about the family's Nebraska-bred Portuguese water dog, Figgie.
Hagel's son, Ziller, then 7 or 8 years old, answered the phone, asked who was calling and then hollered across the house, “Daddy, some guy by the name of Kennedy is on the phone. He says he's Ted Kennedy. Who is he? Do you want to talk to him?”
Kennedy delighted in retelling the story, Hagel said.
Kennedy ended up buying two Portuguese water dogs and often brought them to his Senate office.
“He'd kid me about bringing Figgie to play with his dogs,'' Hagel said. “I said Figgie didn't have the proper senatorial behavior or training.''
Hagel said Kennedy was a tough competitor who could be trusted.
“Our voting records were pretty far apart, but when you found yourself on the same side you always liked that because you knew you had an articulate and strong partner,'' Hagel said.
“He loved the Senate. He loved the engagement. He was very funny. He reached out to everybody. He got along with everybody. Everybody liked him. He always saw opportunities to move forward by compromise. He was a deal-maker.''
Hagel said Kennedy's illness and absence from Capitol Hill was a “huge blow'' to President Barack Obama's health care proposals.
“Kennedy was the one guy who could put something together,'' he said. “He knew when and how to compromise, and he knew the issue better than anybody.''
Hagel had Kennedy's support for a compromise immigration bill. Kerrey worked closely with Kennedy on the Americans With Disabilities Act.
In Nebraska, with Republicans holding a solid majority in voter registration, Democrats could win statewide only with support from independents and moderate Republicans. Kennedy wouldn't help with those crossover votes.
“You wanted to run your campaign about Jim Exon, not Ted Kennedy,” said Tom Monaghan of Omaha, a former Nebraska Democratic Party chairman.
At the same time, Republicans knew they could run against Kennedy, said Norm Riffel of Springfield, a former state GOP chairman.
“That doesn't necessarily mean we didn't appreciate his position,” Riffel said. “He certainly had the respect of Republicans as well as Democrats. We're saddened by his death.”
Hagel said Kennedy was amused by GOP attempts to vilify him as the personification of evil.
“He kept trying to contribute and make a difference,'' Hagel said. “I found it astounding that he'd be on the Senate floor at 11 o'clock during late-night sessions screaming at the top of his lungs about something he was passionate about. He never ran down.''
Kerrey said his prayers for the Kennedy family include the hope that America “will be lucky enough to be served by others in the manner that he served us for the past 46 years.''
World-Herald staff writer Paul Goodsell contributed to this report.
Contact the writer:
444-1127, david.hendee@owh.com
