Thirty years later, Carter still blames Kennedy
Taking a page from President Barack Obama's (D) playbook of blaming his predecessor, taking another page from the Republicans' of deriding their own and then adding his unique bitter page, former President Jimmy Carter (D) blamed the late Sen Ted Kennedy (D-MA) for blocking a major issue of his administration according to a report in The Hill.
"The fact is that we would have had comprehensive healthcare now had it not been for Ted Kennedy's deliberately blocking the legislation that I proposed," Carter said in an interview to air Sunday on "60 Minutes" on CBS. "It was his fault. Ted Kennedy killed the bill."
Apparently Kennedy wanted a government insurance plan immediately, Carter felt is should be phased in. They clashed, Carter lost, Kennedy won and there was no "comprehensive healthcare" under Carter. Thirty years later, Carter is still bitter, still whining.
Carter hinted that the contentious relationship led to Kennedy's decision to primary him in 1980."He did not want to see me have a major success in that realm of life," Carter said.
For those of you under 35, Carter won the primary against Kennedy but lost his bid for a second term in the general election against Ronald Reagan (R).