My thoughts and prayers go to his family and friends. The man lasted on the national stage longer than most anyone else in the 20th Century and had a lasting mark on the US Senate. He will not be so easily replaced. I don’t have much in common with him politically, and yet I got a kick out of finding out that he cited one of my law review articles in a paper on hate speech online.

He’s one of the last of the old guard in the Senate.

His actions re: Chappaquiddick ended his chances of running for President, which is just as well. He was challenged by critics and beloved by his supporters. Political foes respected him. That shows in the kinds of statements being released by politicians from around the country, including former Presidents and leaders.

Now, the effort begins to turn Kennedy’s death into a rallying point on health care reform - courtesy of Democrats who want to push things even before Kennedy is laid to rest.

The sad thing is that Kennedy likely knew the end was near earlier in the week when discussions began over changing the law that would dictate how Mass. would select his successor - it’s currently through special election, but Kennedy and Patrick want to switch it back so that the governor could make the selection himself. Recall that it was Kennedy and fellow Democrats who pushed for the special election process when a GOPer was in office. The whole point was to make sure that the politics trumped all else.

And perhaps that is the most fitting thing of all - he was a politician to the end.