SALON

Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 8:45 PM UTC

Report: Replacement for Kennedy chosen

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has reportedly settled on a temporary successor to the late senator -- maybe

By

Topics: Deval Patrick, Paul Kirk, D-Mass., Ted Kennedy, U.S. Senate, War Room,

If Fox News’ Major Garrett is right, then we already know the identity of the newest senator from Massachusetts, who’ll be replacing the late Sen. Ted Kennedy until a special election is held early next year. That’s if he’s right, of course, and so far the office of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who’s charged with making the choice, isn’t saying — for now, in fact, they’re saying no final decision has been made.

The man Garrett says will get the nod from Patrick is Paul Kirk, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee who was a close friend and aide to Kennedy — he worked for him for years, chairs the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and was the master of ceremonies at one memorial service for the senator. Kirk has gotten the endorsement of Kennedy family members, including the senator’s widow, Victoria, and his two sons.

Even if Patrick has settled on Kirk, there are still some issues left to be resolved. The biggest is a legal one: Laws passed by the Massachusetts Legislature don’t take effect for 90 days. That can be circumvented with an addition to a bill, an “emergency preamble,” but the state House voted the addition down on Wednesday. There’s one out left, though — Patrick himself can sign a letter declaring an emergency, which would make the law effective immediately.

That, too, might be easier said than done, however. Patrick’s up for re-election next year, and he’s lost quite a bit of luster recently. It would have been one thing if the state Legislature had given him the power to make the appointment immediately, as there would have been hundreds of votes to give him political cover. If he signs the letter, though, he’s all but on his own. There are still plenty of votes out there to give him cover — the emergency preamble requires a two-thirds vote, and didn’t pass only for that reason –  but they mean a whole lot less without the official approval of the Legislature as a whole.

Given that issue, if Patrick does sign the letter and make the appointment immediately, it’ll be interesting to see if he sticks with Kirk. The man is qualified, and respected, sure. But there’ve been a whole lot of issues with governors making Senate appointments recently, and in this case support from the Kennedys could actually be a point against Kirk — if Patrick’s nervous about making a choice that looks dynastic, or like he’s putting a Kennedy puppet in, he could look elsewhere. Former Gov. Michael Dukakis, the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988, is the other possibility who’s getting the most buzz.

If Fox News’ Major Garrett is right, then we already know the identity of the newest senator from Massachusetts, who’ll be replacing the late Sen. Ted Kennedy until a special election is held early next year. That’s if he’s right, of course, and so far the office of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who’s charged with making the choice, isn’t saying — for now, in fact, they’re saying no final decision has been made.

The man Garrett says will get the nod from Patrick is Paul Kirk, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee who was a close friend and aide to Kennedy — he worked for him for years, chairs the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and was the master of ceremonies at one memorial service for the senator. Kirk has gotten the endorsement of Kennedy family members, including the senator’s widow, Victoria, and his two sons.

Even if Patrick has settled on Kirk, there are still some issues left to be resolved. The biggest is a legal one: Laws passed by the Massachusetts Legislature don’t take effect for 90 days. That can be circumvented with an addition to a bill, an “emergency preamble,” but the state House voted the addition down on Wednesday. There’s one out left, though — Patrick himself can sign a letter declaring an emergency, which would make the law effective immediately.

That, too, might be easier said than done, however. Patrick’s up for re-election next year, and he’s lost quite a bit of luster recently. It would have been one thing if the state Legislature had given him the power to make the appointment immediately, as there would have been hundreds of votes to give him political cover. If he signs the letter, though, he’s all but on his own. There are still plenty of votes out there to give him cover — the emergency preamble requires a two-thirds vote, and didn’t pass only for that reason –  but they mean a whole lot less without the official approval of the Legislature as a whole.

Given that issue, if Patrick does sign the letter and make the appointment immediately, it’ll be interesting to see if he sticks with Kirk. The man is qualified, and respected, sure. But there’ve been a whole lot of issues with governors making Senate appointments recently, and in this case support from the Kennedys could actually be a point against Kirk — if Patrick’s nervous about making a choice that looks dynastic, or like he’s putting a Kennedy puppet in, he could look elsewhere. Former Gov. Michael Dukakis, the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988, is the other possibility who’s getting the most buzz.

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon. More Alex Koppelman.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 7 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations