As you no doubt know, Ted Kennedy tragically, if not entirely unexpectedly, passed away this week. One of the many thoughts crossing people’s minds: what does Kennedy’s death mean for his signature issue?

The consensus on the left seems to be that Kennedy is now the patron saint of health care reform. Indeed, Democrats are already invoking his legacy and moral compass as a motivation for success in the process. From Politico:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday, “Ted Kennedy’s dream of quality health care for all Americans will be made real this year.”

Democratic Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California echoed Pelosi. “He did not spend his whole career trying to pass a bill that would tweak health care. Sen. Kennedy wanted universal health care, and certainly progressives want universal health care. We need to have a good robust public plan,” she said.

And The New York Times:

“Maybe Teddy’s passing will remind people once again that we are there to get a job done as he would do,” said Senator Christopher J. Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat and close friend of Mr. Kennedy who filled in for him as chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The Washington Post noted yesterday that Democrats hope that “the passing of such a prominent advocate for universal health coverage may represent an opportunity to hit the reset button on that issue,” and earlier this week Sen. Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) said that the health care reform bill should bear Kennedy’s name when it’s passed. Progressive advocacy groups aren’t even waiting that long: somehave already dubbed the bill that came out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee “The Kennedy Bill” and are pushing for it to be passed ASAP.

The obvious–if crass–question: will any of this make a practical difference for health care reform? In one sense, perhaps: the articles I’ve pulled above all suggest that Democrats see this moment as an opportunity to renew their push for reform. But at the same time, the conservative forces who oppose health care reform most vocally–the Glenn Becks, radical town hall protesters, and the Eric Cantors of the world–are the types of folks who (a) never thought too highly of Ted Kennedy in the first place and (b) don’t tend to have much shame.

In 2007, for example, Beck called Kennedy a liar–and just yesterday he called health care reform a ploy “to capitalize” on the Senator’s death. Other, less famously crazy conservatives–like Sen. John Barrasso from Wyoming, for example–are working to pre-empt a ‘Kennedy boost’ more subtly by claiming that his passing doesn’t change the supposed defects of the bill. Still others insist that health care reform has been a political disaster because of Kennedy’s absence and this will only become more problematic now that he is gone for good.

In other words, the Right is already moving quick to undermine any political impact that Kennedy’s passing might have had on the health care reform process. Some are saying that a Democratic rally is just a exploitation of his death, others say the bill is still broken, and the rest say that Kennedy’s passing only makes things worse vis-a-vis effective reform. All in all, if Kennedy’s death does impact health care reform, it looks like that influence will be more about galvanizing Democrats commitment to reform than about post-tragedy civility, compromise, or bipartisanship.And that’s just fine with me. I just hope that the warm and fuzzy sentiment that Democrats are feeling right now hardens into a greater willingness to steamroll over Republicans–because the Right isn’t going to put down its pitchforks any time soon.

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