Will Kennedy's death be catalyst on health care?

President Obama, in a message overnight to his 13 million-strong grassroots group, said that Senator Edward M. Kennedy "a true leader who challenged us all to live out our noblest values."

"I personally valued his wise counsel in the Senate, where, regardless of the swirl of events, he always had time for a new colleague. I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for the Presidency. And even as he waged a valiant struggle with a mortal illness, I've benefited as President from his encouragement and wisdom," Obama added in his message to members of Organizing for America. (His full message is below.)

Obama did not mention the issue that he and Kennedy were most closely working on in the months before his death and that his grassroots group is now crusading on -- a health care overhaul.

But Vice President Joe Biden says that Kennedy's death -- and the outpouring of tributes -- could break the partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill.

"God willing maybe his loss and all about him will be the catalyst to make people come around and, you know, begin to compromise to get something done," Biden said in an interview aired this morning on NBC's "Today" show.

The vice president, however, also acknowledged that the impact could go the other way -- that Kennedy's absence will make a bipartisan deal even more difficult. Several key Republicans, including last year's presidential nominee, Senator John McCain, have argued in recent days that a health care deal would be closer if Kennedy had been in the Senate the last few months.

Biden said that Kennedy's attitude and persistence should be an example.

"Everything was about possibilities. I never, ever, ever in 36 years of being with him ever saw him down in terms of, 'We can't get this done,' 'things aren't going to get any better,' 'the deficit's too big,' 'we can't get this passed' -- never, never, never," Biden said.

"I watched him on the renewal of the civil rights legislation. I watched him on hate crimes legislation. I watched him go back at it and go back at it, and I watched him change people's minds."

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today that Kennedy's death would "make things more difficult" on health care legislation, MSNBC reports.

Asked about the possibility of naming the bill in Kennedy's honor, she said that would be an appropriate tribute, but said "it would be best to pass health care."

But conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh took a decidedly different stance.

"Placing [Kennedy’s] name on a health-care bill, in memoriam, or using his name as a sympathy ploy to advance a health care bill that would deny Americans the choices Senator Kennedy had is an insult and is supreme hypocrisy,” he said on his show Wednesday. "The senator's passing is going to give them the opportunity to use the sympathy play to get as much done in his name as possible."

Meanwhile, a second group opposing Democrats' health care plan announced today it is withdrawing its TV ads out of respect for Kennedy.

The Associated Press reports that the US Chamber of Commerce said it is suspending its $7.5 million, 21-state campaign, which criticizes the government-run coverage that many Democrats favor, until early next week.

On Wednesday, Conservatives for Patients Rights also said it was temporarily halting its ads, including one running in the Boston area that was aimed at Obama vacationing on Martha's Vineyard.

UPDATE: Asked today about how President Obama looks at some liberal groups' "win one for Kennedy" push on health care, White House spokesman Bill Burton replied, "Our country lost a beloved leader and the politics and implications of that are the last thing on the president's mind right now."

Pressed on whether Kennedy's death is being used in a "political way," Burton said, "We've all experienced a pretty big loss and Americans are going to have different reactions and find different ways to memorialize his life. [The president]'s not going to make a comment on what every single person does to memorialize or remember or talk about Senator Kennedy and his passing. There will be a time when it's appropriate to have discussions on different ramifications, but I don't think anybody thinks that now is it."