With Edward Kennedy, it was about more than Camelot, although there could be no denying the impact of the family brand. Indeed, in this part of the world, and in our circumstance, it was easy for Ted Kennedy's idealism to resonate.

Two current events in America's political process underline the point.

One is the current debate over health care reform and the attempt by President Barack Obama to effect something approximating universal and affordable health care in the United States. This is a fight in which Senator Kennedy engaged for nearly 40 years, and it speaks to his appreciation of the need to bridge the disparities in the world's most prosperous nation, where more than 40 million people are without health care.

Ted Kennedy understood something about being his brother's keeper.

Then there is Obama, America's first African-American president, whose candidacy Ted Kennedy endorsed at a crucial time in the Democratic primary campaign when the contest could have gone either way. The significance of that endorsement was beyond mere political support, but was rather Ted Kennedy's act of ordaining Mr Obama with the hopes, dreams and idealism of the short-lived presidency of John F. Kennedy.

For Mr Obama's kith and kin, it was a declaration that spoke louder than policy.

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