Today is the last day for many of Sen. Ted Kennedy’s staff who stayed on to help Senator Paul G. Kirk before the special election. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., now assumes the role of the junior Senator from Massachusetts.
There have been thousands of post-mortems since the special election Jan. 20, but I wanted to take a few moments to reflect upon the hard work of the staffers leaving today. There are literally thousands of people who worked for Sen. Kennedy over the past five decades, and the Kennedy family was extremely gracious in acknowledging their importance to his legacy all throughout the celebration of his life this past August.
But the folks who remained to help Sen. Kirk deserve special mention. These individuals have had a tumultuous two years, from Sen. Kennedy’s principled endorsement of President Obama in early 2008 to his diagnosis of cancer later that year through his death and through the political tumult of 2009 and 2010. Yet, these men and women have worked hard throughout it all. They have continued to carry forward the Sen. Kennedy’s vision of social justice and giving voice to the voiceless. Including Sen. Kirk, they all were working hard to see Sen. Kennedy’s dream of health care for all become a reality.
They are all likely going to go on to heralded careers, just like so many of their peers. But they deserve a moment of thanks from all of us for their dedicated public service during trying times. So … thanks, guys.
