Do you wish Ted had been president, and

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what would a Ted Kennedy presidency been like?

[oldtime dfl_er]

1. No because he woudln't have survived it

He was better off in the Senate where he could be a force, and stay alive. I honestly believe that, having lived through both Jack and Bobby being assassinated. Those who hate(d) the Kennedy brothers hated them with enormous passion.

[damntexdem]

6. Then we should all just give up and play dead.

Can't take the chance that someone will make us BE dead if we raise our head.

No, we needed Ted. And if he was reluctant, so much the better -- better than a fool like Dubya who wanted to be prez but wasn't nearly up to it.

[texastoast]

2. No, because he really didn't want it

And some fuck would have tried to kill him.

[JuniperLea]

3. I'd rather have him in the Senate for 40+ years...

Than in the White House for eight.

Much safer, too.

[Perky]

4. No bevause He would have hated it and would likey have been a one termer

is demeanor, his talents his values all suggset that he would not have gotten much through Congress and it is very doubtful that he would have enjoyed an electoral mandate let alone a honeymoon.

[damntexdem]

5. Yes, if only because Reagan would not have become president.

Imagine our nation without Reagan's "government is the problem, not the solution" as the slogan for a decade.

[Laelth]

7. Yes. If he were President and not Ronald Reagan.

What would it have looked like? I have no clue, and I don't care. It would have been better than suffering with the Reagan legacy for 28 years.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Mass]

8. He was more powerful as a senator for 40+ years than as a president for 8!

[Phx_Dem]

9. No. A presidency lasts only 8 years at best. He accomplished more

in his 47 years in the Senate than any president ever has. And he would always have been compared to Jack. He made his own indelible mark in the Senate. He was the best Sentator EVER, and will be sorely missed.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

10. +10

My words exactly.

[Phx_Dem]

15. ..

:fistbump:

[question everything]

11. I don't think so. He himself was not sure why he wanted to

be President and, as I was watching all the clips and stories, I realized that he really matured and made his mark starting in the 90s. Perhaps re-marrying had something to do. I think that in the 70s and the 80s he was more of a spoiled brat.

[Sebastian Doyle]

12. In a more just world

President Ted Kennedy would have solved his brothers' murders, brought single payer health care to all, and picked up where Jimmy Carter left off with a commitment to "alternative" energy.

We need to somehow accomplish all three. Starting with health care. And that's not a Lee Mercer reference.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. As I was saying re: Howard Dean yesterday - some people are legislators, some are executives.

Ted Kennedy was born to be a legislator. That's not to say that he wouldn't have been a great president, but that he was suited to be the greatest legislator in our history.

[SteppingRazor]

14. Absolutely! Not just for what he would have accomplished, but for what wouldn't have been...

after all Ted came closest to the presidency in 1980. Ted being elected = no Ronald Reagan.