The Conservative Cave
Current Events => Politics => Topic started by: lastparker on August 20, 2009, 11:44:51 AM
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August 21, 2009
Kennedy Asks for Quicker Procedure to Pick His Successor By ABBY GOODNOUGH
Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, terminally ill with brain cancer, has asked state legislative leaders to change the law and let Gov. Deval Patrick appoint a temporary replacement upon the senator’s death.
Under current law, the seat would be vacant until a special election could be held 145 to 160 days later. But Senator Kennedy, a 77-year-old Democrat, wrote in a letter to the governor that he wanted Massachusetts to have full representation in the Senate during that period.
Although he did not mention the issue in the letter, it is becoming increasingly clear that Democratic votes will be crucial to passing the health care legislation that is the subject of intense Congressional debate. Senator Kennedy has been a passionate supporter of overhauling the nation’s health care system, but his absence from the debate and from public life in recent months has raised speculation that he will not be well enough to cast a vote when the time comes.
Should Senator Kennedy die before then, it is likely that, under current law, his seat would still be vacant when the legislation came up for a vote in the Senate.
Mr. Patrick and legislative leaders, all Democrats, did not immediately offer opinions on the senator’s request, which was first reported in The Boston Globe.
“It’s typical of Ted Kennedy to be thinking ahead and about the people of Massachusetts,†Mr. Patrick said in a statement, “when the rest of us are thinking about him.â€
In a joint statement, Robert DeLeo, speaker of the State House of Representatives, and Therese Murray, president of the Senate, said: "We have great respect for the Senator and what he continues to do for our Commonwealth and our nation. It is our hope that he will continue to be a voice for the people of Massachusetts as long as he is able."
Up until 2004, state law called for the governor to appoint a temporary replacement for a Senate seat that became vacant. But in that year, when Senator John Kerry, a Democrat, was running for president, the Democratic-controlled Legislature wanted to deny the governor at the time — Mitt Romney, a Republican — the power to name a replacement if Mr. Kerry won the presidency.
In his letter, Mr. Kennedy, who has held his seat for 47 years, wrote that he supported the 2004 law, but he added, “I also believe it is vital for this Commonwealth to have two voices speaking for the needs of its citizens and two votes in the Senate during the approximately five months between a vacancy and an election.â€
Mr. Kennedy also asked that Mr. Patrick “obtain, as a condition of appointment of the interim Senator, an explicit personal commitment not to become a candidate in the special election.â€
Although the letter was delivered to Mr. Patrick and legislative leaders on Tuesday, it was dated July 9. Anthony Coley, a spokesman for Senator Kennedy, said the senator had written it then, but did not send it until "word began to leak out" recently about "quiet conversations that have been occurring about the law."
"He decided he needed to get the letter into the Governor’s and legislative leaders’ hands so that his position would be publicly known," Mr. Coley said in an e-mail.
Asked why Senator Kennedy would not want a temporary appointee to run for his seat in the special election, Mr. Coley said he "wanted to ensure that whomever received that appointment did not have any head start or advantage in the special election."
In May 2008, Mr. Kennedy received a diagnosis of a virulent brain tumor, and for most of this year has stayed away from Washington and the public eye. He has spent the summer at his home on Cape Cod, and occasionally has been spotted sailing with family members.
He did not attend the public funeral last week of his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver — although he did attend a private service — and he did not he travel to Washington to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama.
Nobody in Massachusetts has publicly declared an interest in Senator Kennedy’s seat, but several members of the United States House of Representatives are likely to be interested, as is Martha Coakley, the state attorney general. Another possible candidate is Martin Meehan, a former member of the House who is now chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
The senator’s wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, has often been mentioned as a strong candidate to succeed him, but she has expressed no interest in the seat, according to a family spokeswoman. Nor has Joseph P. Kennedy II, a son of Robert F. Kennedy and a former member of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/us/politics/21kennedy.html?hpw
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Up until 2004, state law called for the governor to appoint a temporary replacement for a Senate seat that became vacant. But in that year, when Senator John Kerry, a Democrat, was running for president, the Democratic-controlled Legislature wanted to deny the governor at the time — Mitt Romney, a Republican — the power to name a replacement if Mr. Kerry won the presidency.
In his letter, Mr. Kennedy, who has held his seat for 47 years, wrote that he supported the 2004 law, but he added, “I also believe it is vital for this Commonwealth to have two voices speaking for the needs of its citizens and two votes in the Senate during the approximately five months between a vacancy and an election.â€
:censored: hypocrite .
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Once again it's the Liberal twostep...change the law to thwart a Republican...change it back when a Dem is in the seat and it works to your advantage.
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Indeed = Its the Massachusetts way
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The Massachusetts legislature is known for never accomplishing anything on time or on budget - but when it came to this issue which involved amending the Commonwealth's Constitution - they were able to do it in just one day. :whatever:
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Laws and rules are for thee, not wee.