A Ballad for Teddy

(doug mills/The New York Times/file)

In our current state of hyper-partisan politics, it often takes us by surprise to learn of deep and abiding relationships between people from different ideological perspectives.  Senator Orrin Hatch, a leading conservative from the State of Utah, penned a ballad praying for the quick recovery of his close friend and political rival Senator Ted Kennedy, the liberal lion from Massachusetts.  According to the Boston Globe:

"The lyrics are a tribute to Kennedy and a call for fortitude as the senator battles a brain tumor. ‘Through the darkness, we can find a pathway, that will take us halfway to the stars,' the song goes. ‘Shoo the shadows and doubts away, and touch the legacy that is ours, yours and mine.'"

Hatch wrote this ballad at the request of several prominent Democrats to honor Senator Kennedy during the Democratic convention:

"'One said, 'Why don't you write a song for the convention for Teddy?' So I did,' Hatch said. He said he had talked to high-ranking Democrats about having the song performed at the convention with a montage of pictures of the Massachusetts senator, but ‘I don't know if they'll do it,' Hatch said, waving his hand modestly."