Editorial: To honor Kennedy, lift debate to his level

On Tuesday, just a few hours before Edward M. Kennedy died, one of his Senate friends and occasional allies was meeting with constituents at a town hall meeting across the country in Sun City, Ariz.

The audience’s admiration for John McCain was unmistakable. They nodded. They applauded. They voiced support, and they listened attentively – as long as McCain was detailing the flaws of President Barack Obama’s health care reform plan.

But then the Arizona Republican reminded everyone that Obama believes in the Constitution, is sincere in his beliefs and deserves respect. The two men simply have different ideas about government’s role in pursuing what’s best for the country, that’s all.

The remark brought a hiss of disapproval. As we’ve learned, civility and respect are as foreign to political discourse these days as they are to cage fighting.

Which brings us back to Kennedy, who was both revered and reviled during his four decades in the Senate, but who achieved some of his greatest successes by forging bipartisan relationships with such Republicans as McCain, Utah’s Orrin Hatch and Virginia’s John Warner.

In the coming days, legions of Kennedy admirers will honor his dedication and passion on behalf of America’s unempowered. Critics, on the other hand, will stress the reckless self-indulgence that landed him in a cheating scandal at Harvard and a tragedy at Chappaquiddick, and they will deride Kennedy’s political agenda as socialism. The blogs are already filling up with it.

But among his Senate colleagues and others with whom the veteran senator from Massachusetts waged policy battle, it is his rivals who have uttered some of the most meaningful tributes.

Hatch, for one, noted that he came to the Senate wanting to rid it of Kennedy but came to realize it’s a good thing for the country that he failed.

Ed Fuelner, president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, hailed the public service of Kennedy, a man with whom he disagreed “on virtually every major issue.”

To hear accomplished national political figures heap praise on a competitor should be an inspiration to the rest of us. Philosophical disagreement doesn’t have to rule out personal friendship or admiration. Issues can be debated vigorously without resorting to character attacks.

It won’t be easy.

In Sun City on Tuesday, even John McCain’s popularity with a sympathetic home-state crowd could not calm the demagogy.

Some voices are urging Congress to honor Kennedy by passing the universal health care system he fought for.

A more lasting gesture, but probably a more difficult one, would be a national commitment to constructive, issue-focused political debate.

We suspect Kennedy would approve.