Watch the Senate for a while sometime.
Kennedy throws one hell of a lot of weight around (no joke intended), and damn little gets passed if he doesn't want it to. Unless the Republicans manage to get a two-thirds majority, and that's not likely, this won't change. The Contract With America, which passed the House with almost all of its provisions, hit the brick wall of the Senate and died.
Not very many people pay attention to the fact that Kerry has basically spent his entire Senate career as Kennedy's flunky. This means something.