The Hiller Instinct: One Year Ago

The faces in the huge crowd reflected the hope and dreams Obama's election inspired.  

Everyone knew one reason why he was taking the oath of office was because Ted Kennedy had not only endorsed him but passed him the torch of Camelot.

Just eight months after the inauguration, Kennedy died from brain cancer. The President came to Boston to mark the passing.

“Today, we say goodbye,” President Obama said.

As Kennedy's body was brought from Hyannisport to Boston, once again there was a huge crowd with many faces. And, once again, they all seemed to say "thank you" for being what you were, which was a Liberal Lion -- a Democrat.

The crowd outside the polling place in Hyannisport wasn't very big yesterday, as voters who lived their lives with Ted nearby went to pick his successor.

And in the precinct where the Kennedy compound is located, Republican Scott Brown beat Martha Coakley by 13 percent.

That must humiliate the Kennedys, who had gathered to endorse Coakley, and particularly hurt Vicki Kennedy, the late Senator's widow who campaigned with her.

Because yesterday was the absolute end of the Kennedy era and of the family's unequaled influence on state and national politics.

I think the Democratic Party suddenly seems old, and stale. Once, big-name endorsements and dramatic attack ads influenced Massachusetts voters. Scott Brown proved they don't any more.

I’m Andy Hiller, that’s my instinct.

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