Ted Kennedy

I was deeply saddened by the death of Ted Kennedy. I saw in him -- projected on to him, perhaps -- a real fighter for progressive causes, someone unafraid to speak and work for justice and greater equality.

I went out of my way to shake his hand, twice -- once in New Haven during the 1984 presidential campaign, and again in 2008 at a public higher education dinner in Boston, where he gave a passionate speech about the need to invest in higher education. As he arrived, I rushed across the huge ballroom because I wanted to have a chance to thank him for his support for liberal causes. Just weeks later he was diagnosed with cancer.

For all my skepticism of politicians, he somehow redeemed himself by his stalwart commitment to progressive causes even when they went "out of fashion," since apparently it is possible for a living wage, health care for all, and civil rights to "go out of fashion." You could rely on him to speak up, with great fervor, against injustice and for greater fairness.

When the time comes -- as it does on a regular basis on Washington -- for someone to have a spine and fight for better legislation in the face of vilification from the Right, he will be sorely missed.