I don’t agree. It CAN mean affection, or it can mean familiarity. People who are a part of our history or pop culture are often referred to by their first names. Oprah is Oprah or Oprah Winfrey. She isn’t Ms. Winfrey. Hillary is Hillary most of the time, rarely Senator Clinton, or Mrs. Clinton. Sarah is Sarah or Governor Palin. Ted Kennedy is a part of our national history, like it or not. He belongs to us. Like it or not. Calling him by his first name just says he is familiar to us, it doesn’t denote how we feel about that.
Ted Kennedy is just a Senator that neither of us know much about him other than what we read. Call him whatever you want - he's your buddy.