'He became a wonderful legislator'

Having dedicated much of his career to passage of health care reform, Sen. Ted Kennedy in passing could help stir the momentum his fellow Democrats need to finally see their initiative become reality.

So says Thom Serafin, President and CEO of Serafin & Associates, Inc., in this segment on Fox Chicago News.

Serafin referred back to Kennedy's remarks at the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York, when Kennedy conceded defeat in his presidential bid.

"For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end," Kennedy said at the time. "For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

“That is what Ted Kennedy brings to the health care reform package," Serafin says. "Unfortunately, he’s no longer with us. But fortunately for the Democrats, they’re going to use those words to have to pass some kind of health care reform.”

Serafin speaks about the paradox of Kennedy - “He was cursed with the legacy of the Kennedys” - and about his own experience meeting Kennedy on Capitol Hill in the 1980s, when Serafin worked as an aide to Sen. Alan Dixon of Illinois.

“He became a wonderful legislator,” Serafin says. “More important, he was a human being in that body. Most of that work gets done off the Senate floor. I worked there with Alan Dixon during the 80s. I used to ride the tunnel and he was in the cart with us. (He was a) very congenial, wonderful person and a terrific legislator. He served one-fifth of the time that we’ve had a U.S. Senate under our Constitution. That’s a long time.”

Meanwhile in Illinois, the race for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Barack Obama is heating up with the addition of David Hoffman, the inspector general for the City of Chicago and a former federal prosecutor, as a candidate. He is expected to face Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Urban League President Cheryle Jackson in the Democratic primary.

Serafin speaks about the changing dynamics of this race, noting that David Axelrod's former media firm is working for Hoffman's nascent campaign. Axelrod, of course, is political adviser to President Obama.

Though Giannoulias has long had a personal relationship with Obama, Serafin suspects that Obama's organization may now be firmly behind Hoffman.

“Alexi is the state treasurer of the state of Illinois. He’s got the county chairmen’s endorsement behind him. He’s got an organization behind him. He’s got a couple million dollars. He’s got everything going for himself in this particular race," Serafin says.

"He’s a Democratic elected official for the state of Illinois and all of a sudden Barack Obama’s organization says, ‘Uh-uh, we’re going to run somebody else in this race because we don’t think you can beat (Republican) Mark Kirk in the general election.’ So this is really about stopping Alexi – it’s not about anything else – because they don’t think he can beat Mark Kirk.”