has been that Orrin Hatch was among his best friends:
Ted Kennedy was largely responsible for the bill, complete with robust public option, that was voted out the the HELP committee. One has to believe he would want passage of the bill he helped author.
With friends like that…
(I have trouble sometimes relating to my own brother and cousins who supported almost everything Bush did, including the Iraq War. I would not choose my friends from among Bush’s heartiest supporters – but then, Ted Kennedy always was a better human being than I could ever hope to be.)