Hatch: No hard feelings for Kennedy snub

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) says he’s not offended that Sen. Edward Kennedy’s memoir doesn’t mention him.

Hatch, who wrote a song for Kennedy after the Massachusetts Democrat was diagnosed with brain cancer, was very close to Kennedy. Hatch said in 2008 that Kennedy was like a brother to him.

But Hatch is not referenced in Kennedy’s 532-page book, True Compass, which was released last week. It did, however, give a shout-out to Republican Sens. Kit Bond of Missouri, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Mike Enzi of Wyoming, as well as several former Republican senators.

Hatch said he’s “glad” he’s not in the book. “I don’t think he was concentrating on bipartisanship in the book, I think he was concentrating on telling his Democratic story,” Hatch said. “He was writing what really is a partisan book. And I don’t mean ‘partisan’ in a bad sense, but he wanted to write about his Democratic ideas. And if he starts splitting it with me, it would make a difference. So I don’t have any problem with it.”