The Lion Roars, the Lioness Stakes New Territory

Amid rumors that Obama may have to back-burner Universal Health Care legislation in favor of more pressing energy and economic concerns, Sen. Ted Kennedy appeared in the Senate yesterday, November 17th, for the first time in six months and announced that he plans to introduce a health care bill early in the year. Battling a malignant brain tumor himself, the Lion of the Senate makes a perfect poster boy for health care reform. Kennedy and his staff have been working on a health care reform package all summer, with the Mass. senator working from his home in Hyannis Port:

Kennedy has continued to conduct Senate work from his home in Hyannis Port, working with Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt to extend the federal rules allowing Massachusetts to continue its healthcare plan and crafting a major national service program with Kennedy's colleague and friend, Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican. Kennedy has also held video conferences with his staff and fellow members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which Kennedy chairs, to discuss the panel's upcoming agenda.--The Boston Globe

Early speculation said that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) would be a natural choice to spearhead healthcare reform in the Senate. Her work in the 1990's and before, as well as her 2008 presidential campaign focussed heavily on Universal Health Care. However, signs point heavily to the idea that Sen. Clinton may be headed to the State Department as the country's top diplomat, Secretary of State. NY state politicians are already lobbying New York Governor David Paterson to be tapped to replace Clinton in the Senate. And, ironically, the vetting of Bill Clinton is underway by Obama's transition staff, more than likely a public show to give reassurances. There is little doubt that President-elect Obama was fully aware of the whole ball of wax that comes with the Clintons, and a private agreement would have been reached before Obama's media-lockdown was eased enough to let the Clinton rumors out. Interestingly, even the conservative media is pitching for Sen. Clinton, often saying, it is Hillary that is getting the job, not Bill. His vetting is a formality, and should not be given precedence over Sen. Clinton's qualifications.

If anyone has the power in the Senate to push health care reform to the top of the agenda it is Sen. Kennedy. The Lion of the Senate may well have returned on queue to lobby his own influence on the Joe Lieberman situation. Regardless, it is clear from the court Kennedy has assembled around himself that he is gathering a power base to shuttle health care issues through the Senate. Likely, one of Sen. Clinton's few reservations about leaving the Senate is health care, and her ability to lobby an independent platofrm in favor of reform. With Kennedy arriving, and taking the standard from her, she is freed to pursue her own goals, and to move on to an active role in the incoming administration.