Convention Coverage Red and Blue With a Hint of Green
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"Together we have known success and seen setbacks ... but we have never lost our belief that we are all called to a better country and a newer world," he said. "I pledge to you that I will be there next January on the floor of the Senate."
His brief speech marked only the second time he has been seen in public since undergoing surgery for a brain tumor on June 2. His appearance came at his own insistence, a source close to the Kennedys said.
The 76-year-old senator compared Obama to his brother, the late president.
"We are told that Barack Obama believes too much in an America of high principle and bold endeavors," Ted said. "But when John F. Kennedy thought of going to the moon, he didn't say, 'It's too far to get there - we shouldn't even try.'
"Our people answered his call and rose to the challenge, and today an American flag still marks the surface of the moon."
He added: "This November, the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans. So, with Barack Obama and for you and for me, our country will be committed to his cause. The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on."
"[Ted Kennedy has] been a powerful force around the world for human rights and human dignity, for refugees and the dispossessed; he helped end apartheid in South Africa and bring peace in Northern Ireland," his niece, Caroline Kennedy, told delegates.
On Monday night of the convention, Senator Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel held a party at Fado's Irish pub which filled a city block. Maryland's bodhrn-playing Governor Martin O'Malley repeated the feat on Wednesday night at the convention. O'Malley grabbed a guitar and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, a runner-up to Biden in the Veep-stakes, joined him on harmonica.
In Minnesota's Twin Cities at the Republican National Convention, Irish-American Republicans and Carribean-American Republicans held a joint celebration at the Minneapolis City Hall where the corned beef overwhelmed the jerk chicken. Former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) John Bruton; Irish Ambassador Michael Collins; former Reagan cabinet secretary and ambassador to Ireland Margaret Heckler; Irish-American Republicans Director Grant Lally; and others were on hand to push the Irish agenda.
