John McCain: Ted Kennedy Was 'a Happy Warrior'

Aug. 27, 2009 — -- Sen. John McCain, who knew Ted Kennedy for more than a quarter-century, said he will remember his friend and colleague as "a happy warrior" on the Senate floor.

"Many times there was no need for the microphone system, we all heard him very clearly," McCain said on "Good Morning America" today.

Kennedy died late Tuesday from brain cancer at the age of 77. He will be buried Saturday at Arlington National Cemetery.

"A great part of the legacy of Ted Kennedy is his passionate advocacy," McCain said. "Whether he won or lost, he was always in the game."

Once a debate had ended, McCain said, Kennedy "returned to the gregarious and friendly individual that he was."

Kennedy was famous in the Senate for being one of the nation's most effective lawmakers, regularly reaching across party lines to get legislation passed. Many of his dearest colleagues were Republicans, and McCain said, "Ted Kennedy's word was his bond."

"One of his great strengths was passion on the floor, debate in the most committed way," McCain said. "Not only the congeniality, but also the readiness to go fight the next battle and form alliances to try to succeed on that one."

McCain said that he hoped Kennedy's commitment to health care throughout his career and his example of compromise and reaching across the aisle would inform the current health care overhaul debate.

"Obviously, if there is health care reform, Ted Kennedy has a long history of being involved in this issue in a variety of ways," he said. "I would hope his example of working together and coming together in the spirit of compromise for the sake and good of the American people would have some effect.

"If there is agreement, he should be given credit for it," he added.

When asked if he had a personal obligation to see health care legislation passed in memory of Kennedy, McCain said, "I feel a personal responsibility to try to conduct myself in many respects the way that Ted Kennedy did on a broad variety of issues, and that is to be willing to sit down and work with the other side of the aisle to try to come up with agreement and compromise."