by Mark Silva
The governor of Massachusetts today named Paul Kirk Jr., a former Democratic National Committee chairman and close friend and former aide of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, to serve as a temporary replacement for the deceased senator until a special election for the seat is held in January.
Kirk's appointment will restore a crucial 60th vote for the Senate's Democratic leadership as the party presses for the health-care legislation that the White House is demanding.
Kennedy, who succumbed to brain cancer last month, had asked state officials to appoint a successor swiftly, arguing that the state cannot afford the vacancy at a critical time.
His passing also had denied the Senate's Democrats a filibuster-proof 60-vote bloc, which the party had only recently obtained with the long-disputed election of Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota. Two other senators, independents Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, meet with the majority party's caucus.
State law calls for a special election to fill a Senate vacancy, and that will be held in January. But the state Legislature this week passed a bill permitting the governor, Democrat Deval Patrick, to appoint an interim successor until the election is held.
"This appointment is a profound honor, and I accept it with sincere humility,'' Kirk said, thanking the state's legislature for fulfilling the former senator's dying wish in enabling the governor to appoint an interim senator, adding: "I shall not be a candidate in the special election for the United States Senate.''
President Barack Obama, pressing Congress for action on a sweeping health-care overhaul, praised Kirk's appointment.
"I am pleased that Massachusetts will have its full representation in the United States Senate in the coming months, as important issues such as health care, financial reform and energy will be debated,'' Obama said in a statement issued by the Whtie House. "Paul Kirk is a distinguished leader, whose long collaboration with Senator Kennedy makes him an excellent, interim choice to carry on his work until the voters make their choice in January.''
Republicans quickly denounced the move as a Democratic "power play'' to ram the president's health-care bill through Congress.
"The Democrats' power play in Massachusetts has nothing to do with principle, and everything to do with politics,'' said Rob Jesmer, executive eirector of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "With their unpopular government-run health care bill on the brink of failure, Democrats in Washington desperately need another vote in the U.S. Senate, and it is clear that this administration will stop at nothIng to ram through the Congress.''
Kirk, 71, is a Boston attorney and was a close friend of the former senator. He and his wife, Gail, live on Cape Cod, and Kirk was among the few who visited Kennedy often at his Hyannis Port home before his death after nearly 47 years in the Senate.
"During our years together, I was personally privileged to have had Sen. Kennedy's friendship, his trust and his confidence,'' Kirk said. "I hope to retain the talented, hardworking and most effective staff of Sen. Kennedy's office.''
Kirk, a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, served on Kennedy's Senate staff from 1969-77. He ran the DNC in the run-up to former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis' unsuccessful campaign for president in 1988.
Kirk also co-founded the Commission on Presidential Debates, which sponsors the series of presidential and vice presidential debates every four years. And he serves as chairman of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
.Kennedy's sons, Edward Kennedy Jr. and Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) both lobbied for Kirk's appointment in phone calls to the governor, according to the Associated Press. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Kennedy's widow, Vicki Kennedy attended the morning announcement at the state capitol.
"We are blessed in Massachusetts to have an enduring surplus of political and civic talent,'' Kerry said. "This was no easy call, but I'll you, I believe the choice the governor has made is completely in keeping with the change of the law that the legislature undertook.... Including Sen. Kennedy.,
"This is a caretaker appointment, a gentle and difficult transition,'' Kerry said, calling Kirk "a superb steward.''
Kirk never has served in political office, and will be seated for only a short time. The state will hold a special election to fill the seat in January. The Democratic field includes state Attorney General Martha Coakley and Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.)
.Kirk has been involved in fundraising for a Senate institute to be created in Kennedy's name. Organizers have faced criticism for accepting donations from the health care industry. Kirk also has been a board member for Hartford Financial Services, known as "The Hartford,'' which sells life and property insurance.
His home state's Democratic leaders have given Gov. Patrick an authority that they had denied a former Republican governor.
State lawmakers had revoked the governor's power to fill Senate vacancies by appointment in 2004, fearing that then- Gov. Mitt Romney might appoint a fellow Republican should Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president that year, was successful. The legislature set a five-month period for special elections instead.
On Aug. 20, five days before he died, Kennedy had sent the governor and state legislative leaders a letter urging a revision of the law. Patrick called Kennedy's request "reasonable,'' in light of the health-care legislation and other important bills in the Senate.
"Congress is debating our future, right now,'' Patrick said today citing the health care legislation, energy legislation and other issues under debate in the Senate. "The issues... are simply too important... for us to be one voice short.''
Kirk "was a close and loyal adviser and confidante of Sen. Kennedy,'' Patrick said. "He is a distinguished lawyer, volunteer and citizen.... In the next few weeks he will carry on the work of Sen. Kennedy.... mindful of his values.''
Comments
What happened to Article One of the U.S. Constitutiion which bars states from making Ex Post Facto laws? Passing this law AFTER Kennedy's death is clearly Ex Post Facto. And therefore, the appointment itself is illegal.
Posted by: Johnson | September 24, 2009 11:48 AM
The end justifies the means!
The number one tenet of the obama administration.
Did I miss this? Silva never used the terms liberal or progressive in describing Kirk, Kerry or the current governor? (Read some of Silva's other stories and count the number of times he tags people as "conservative")
Posted by: slobber | September 24, 2009 12:33 PM
So, no more excuses from the party of "Yes We Can".
This will allow them to push through any legislation they want. ObamaCare is a lock - right? I mean, those stick together democrats are gonna fall right in line with the jack-boot party's demands.
We'll see which side of their pie holes spews the most rhetoric next. Go ahead, take control like you actually have it and stop the whining about republicans. You don't need no stinkin' republicans boys - YOU ARE THE POWER!
Next bring them home safe and whole - little donny is getting bored with your lies and inaction. You promised him you would, so get to it!
Posted by: springfield | September 24, 2009 12:34 PM
Just so I have this straight...the democrats in MA changed the rules when there was a republican governor to not allow the appointment and to require an election and now they are changing them back because their Governor is a democrat? Is this serving the people or the party? Wow have these politicians lost touch. Hopefully the people of MA will send a message during their next elections.
Posted by: scott | September 24, 2009 1:17 PM
Geez, if only you knew a fraction of what you think you know, you would be allowed to join the Democratic Party, " springfield " !! 60 Democratic votes, don't make a ramrod !! Even you should know that. There are many different points of view in the Democratic Party, unlike your lockstep Republican-Libertarians fringe !! As President Obama has stated, time and again, he would like some Republican-Libertarians on board and that means compromise. You know that, don't you !! Ronnie Raygun knew that. Even Tricky Dick knew that. What makes this clutch of Republican-Libertarians so thick-headed, that they refuse to compromise ? Could it be, if they did, they would, for all intents and purposes, be out of business for at least the next 25 years ? I do believe that is the real answer to their stubbornness, to their stomping of their foot, because they aren't getting their way. How childish can you get ??
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | September 24, 2009 1:18 PM
What a *&^% joke. Almost as bad as here in IL. I just don't understand why this isn't in front of a court, or at the very least outraging everyone. So, of course our new virtous commander-in-cheif came down on this didn't he? What a hypocrite!
Posted by: Mike Davern | September 24, 2009 1:19 PM
Did this meet with Obama's approval, er I mean Daley's approval?
Posted by: GnomeLikeCreature | September 24, 2009 1:23 PM
Great, now let's pass a health care bill.
The Repuglicans don't want health care reform to pass because they know people will like it and when that happens their electoral goose will be cooked for at least a generation.
Posted by: former Republican | September 24, 2009 1:58 PM
Oh yeah, and Bush never rammed his garbage policies through Congress, yeah, uh-huh, right. The level of hypocracy from Republican representatives is completely laughable.
Posted by: Sharon | September 24, 2009 2:15 PM
No, Johnson, it's not ex post facto. Ex post facto is making something illegal, after it occurred, and then passing a law to punish the ones who did it.
It's morally slippery, though. Massachusetts Democrats changed the prior law, which directed the governor to appoint a replacement should a Senate seat become vacant, to one requiring a special election to prevent Republican Mitt Romney from appointing a replacement for John Kerry, should he be elected president. Now, they change it again to allow a Democratic governor to appoint an, albeit temporary, replacement for a Democratic senator. Presumably, he'll have the power of the incumbency should he run in the special election next year. Watch for them to change it again, if it serves their purposes.
The end justifies the means. Right. Only this time, even the end is questionable.
Posted by: DaveB | September 24, 2009 2:24 PM
In the big picture, Kirk means nothing.
The Dems don't need 60 votes to pass legislation, all they need is 51.
That's the way the Repugs passed Bush's tax cuts for the rich and Iraq war funding.
Screw the Repugs, the American people don't need or want the obstructionist 'input' from the Party of No when people are dying from lack of health care.
Posted by: moreofthesame | September 24, 2009 2:40 PM
Come on Donny boy. It doesn't take a 2nd grade education to understand democrat politics. Chicago being the prime example of the Great Machines structure and working food chain mentality.
Your tiring rants are getting really childish and boring to boot! they mean absolutely nothing to the democrat party, especialy president Obama. The phoney democrats claims of "bi-partisanship" are really nothing but vomit. They are scared of passing the garbage they propose and you know it. They need republicans to get on board so they can share the disaster and not take full blame for their ignorance. They could have passed their poison bill 6 months ago with the democrat majority in both houses if it weren't for exposing the hypocracy of the legislation. Heck even the president couldn't tell us what was in it for the first 4 months it was being touted as the finest democrat legislation of all time.
Get a real idea of your own sometime and stop with the cry baby back biting and begging for the troops to come home. You've been lied to and are too stupid to admit you have been. Keep repeating the same garbage over and over expecting a different result some day (definition of insanity don). The numbers of fanatic believeres are slipping and the democrat party is starting to turn cannibal on itself.
You'll be in the dark room all by yourself before too long crying your little rants - BRING THEM HOME SAFE AND WHOLE NOW!
He isn't listening to you don, the sooner you get that into your thick skull the better off you'll be - maybe.
Posted by: springfield | September 24, 2009 2:56 PM
It's not surprising that Republicans would complain that one of their fellow Wingnuts didn't get this temporary post.
They complain about everything else while they're not in power and think they have a legitimate argument. And yes, I know Mass is a liberal state but they never let other facts get in the way of a stupid argument.
Republicans (as expected) see this as a miscarriage of justice. A state's government having such a profound effect on the balance of power in the US Congress.
It's funny, I don't recall these very same Republican hypocrites whining about what MN did for the first six months of this very same year with Norm Coleman.
Posted by: TheGopHasNoOneWhoCanBeatObamaIn2012 | September 24, 2009 3:00 PM
When Tom DeLay just said screw it to decades of tradition and pulled a redistricting move in Texas in 2003. Where the 2002 election produced a 17-15 edge to Democrats in Congress, a neat little mid-decade gerrymandering turned that to a 21-11 Republican majority in 2004.
So screw "what is right". Tom DeLay threw away the fair-play rule in American politics. Note that if the R's hadn't picked up those Texas seats they would have had a net loss in the House in 2004. Which might have changed the political narrative.
In light of recent history rigging things so that a Democrat who died of brain cancer can get replaced by a Democrat committed to fulfilling his primary policy goal, and one that is central to the Democratic agenda for more than 75 years doesn't induce me to tears about steamrolling the Mass Republicans. I mean were they out in the streets protesting when DeLay pulled his raw move? Hell no.
Posted by: K | September 24, 2009 3:48 PM
Possible another Obama "Rubber Stamp" railroaded in.
Posted by: Inky | September 24, 2009 3:55 PM
More illegal, unethical bullfeathers from the party that truly epitomizes the term Culture of Corruption. It'll be a grand day when the Demoncraps get shown the door in 2010, merely two years after getting complete control of the place.
Posted by: John D | September 24, 2009 4:20 PM
Inky,
So now Obama is putting out evil "rubber stamps"? Does the Post Office accept them?
Quit sniffing glue and go back to bed, InkyClown.
Posted by: Stinky | September 24, 2009 4:46 PM
********************************************
Get a real idea of your own sometime and stop with the cry baby back biting and begging for the troops to come home. You've been lied to and are too stupid to admit you have been. Keep repeating the same garbage over and over expecting a different result some day (definition of insanity don). The numbers of fanatic believeres are slipping and the democrat party is starting to turn cannibal on itself.
You'll be in the dark room all by yourself before too long crying your little
Posted by: springfield | September 24, 2009 2:56 PM
********************************************
.
.
ClownBoy,
Obama didn't say that the Iraq mess, that Bush and Cheney, created, would be over in eight months. And Afganistan? If the Bushco Repugs hadn't decided that it would be a great idea to blow off Afganistan and invade Iraq for no reason we would probably already be done there.
.
http://www.newyorkslime.com/osama-mission-accomplished-01.jpg
And yet Springfield keeps screeching about how the Repugs are going to rebound and dominate Congress again in 2010, while still forgetting how they became a very small minority in Congress in the first place....the VERY defination of insanity.
Wingnuts like Springfield here remind me of the Cubs at the end of every baseball season: - Waaaah! You'll See! "Wait Until Next Year!"
Posted by: Jerry White | September 24, 2009 5:04 PM
Donut,
You haven't gotten a single election prediction correct in 3 years here in The Swamp.
You're teabagger party will be the fringe minority for years to come.
Get used to it.
Posted by: Bubba ✔ | September 24, 2009 5:11 PM
Run, Senator Burris, Run !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE.NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | September 24, 2009 5:40 PM
Jerry White, I don't share your optimism about how the Afghan (the name of the country is "Afghanistan;" IL SOS Jerry White probably knows that) war would have gone had we not diverted our attention to Iraq. The Afghans kicked out the Brits, they kicked out the Russkies, and they'll kick us out too. I'm beginning to think that it would be less of an expenditure of time, blood, and treasure to leave Afghanistan now, and go back and Zotz them again if they turn back into a terrorist training ground and base.
Posted by: DaveB | September 24, 2009 6:30 PM
So, Sharon, two wrongs make a right? (Three lefts make a right, but two wrongs don't.) Because Bush II did it, it's OK for the Dems to do it now? That way lies insanity; we can justify Bush II doing it because Clinton did it, justify Clinton by Bush I, and on and on . . .
I also disagree with your premise. The president can't "ram" things through Congress; he hasn't got a vote, and doesn't set Congress's agenda. (Mike Madigan and John Cullerton can ram things through the Illinois legislature, though, or not.) All he can do is twist a few arms, and wait for a bill to come to him to sign.
And oh yes: It's "hypocrisy."
Posted by: DaveB | September 24, 2009 6:38 PM
So, Sharon, two wrongs make a right? (Three lefts make a right, but two wrongs don't.) Because Bush II did it, it's OK for the Dems to do it now? That way lies insanity; we can justify Bush II doing it because Clinton did it, justify Clinton by Bush I, and on and on . . .
Posted by: DaveB | September 24, 2009 6:38 PM
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.
Really? Then why don't you tell that to Glenn Beck when he uses it as an excuse to justify the Teabaggers holding up "Obama is Hitler" signs?
And oh yes: It's "hypocrisy." Always has been, always will be.
Posted by: Chuck E Cheese | September 24, 2009 8:38 PM
Gnome-like slobber,
don't ever make the mistake of thinking Obama was part of the Machine.
The Machine ran a candidate against him in every election except the one in 08.
Kirk is just Kenney's Ratzinger.....
Posted by: ornery | September 25, 2009 6:54 AM
Weird Pizza Joint,
I don't like it if Glenn Beck does it either (first I've heard of it, I don't watch him). My point is simply that "If those other people do it, it's OK if I do it" doesn't wash. Never worked with my mother; I don't understand why so many supposed adults trot it out now.
Posted by: DaveB | September 25, 2009 9:04 AM