Massachusetts Governor appointed an interim replacement today to fill the late Ted Kennedy’s seat until a special election is held in January. The ability of the Governor to do this was just passed yesterday. This is a tricky issue that I would imagine is split right down political lines. I’m not so much opposed to the appointment of an interim, or the appointment of an actual replacement or of holding a special election. What I am opposed to is changing your argument, or your states laws, solely because it fits your political goals.
In 2004 when John Kerry was running for President, Massachusetts had a Republican Gov. in Mitt Romney. The Massachusetts lawmakers changed the law at that point to call for a special election to elect a replacement instead of a Governor appointment. This clearly fits with the Democratic goal of not losing a Senate seat had Mr. Kerry been elected. Now, however, with a Democratic Governor in office, there has been much discussion of changing yet again to an appointment by the Governor.
I understand much in life is politics, but something like this should be a principled decision. A state should operate with an appointment process or a special election and those laws should not be changeable on a moment’s notice depending on how the party in power benefits from these rules. It is offensive to all rationale thought that rushing this bill through the MA congress is anything more than the Democratic party doing whatever is necessary to maintain its 60-vote advantage in the U.S. Senate.
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