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Patrick Officially Appoints Kirk As Interim Senator
Interim Senate appointee Paul Kirk (D-MA)
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Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA) has officially announced his appointment of former DNC chairman Paul Kirk, a Kennedy family friend, former Ted Kennedy staffer, and head of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, as interim Senator in the late Kennedy's Senate seat.
"Paul will not seek the open seat in the special election that's coming up in January," said Patrick. "But for the next few months he will carry on the work and the focus of Sen. Kennedy, mindful of his mission, and his values, and his love of Massachusetts."
Sen.-designate Paul Kirk then addressed the media. He reaffirmed that he will not run in the special election, and he thanked the Kennedy family for their support, and discussed his own long-time friendship with Ted Kennedy himself. "To also have the encouragement and support of his family, that I be a voice and a vote for his causes, and his constituents, in the Senate that he loved, is a blessing I can only repay by giving my very best efforts to be the best public servant I can be in the few months ahead."
Kirk also said that he is keeping Kennedy's staff for the duration of his service, maintaining constituent service work that the office had been conducting.
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Gator_fan
September 24, 2009 11:48 AM
No excuses. This is why they let Liberman remain a senator. The senate leadership now needs to have every senator vote for cloture no matter what happens or have these folks punished. Ben Nelson, for example, is running in 2010. Why should the party support him if he won't support the party in a cloture vote?
With 60 democrats, there should be no question. Everything gets out of committee and gets an up or down vote no matter what; people want action and with such a solid majority the Democrats have a responsibility to provide leadership and solutions.
Sen. Snowe should now be irrelevant.
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ttarleton
September 24, 2009 12:02 PM
I agree with you 100%!
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acamus
September 24, 2009 12:02 PM
With the chatter over the Mass. Dems reversing their previous legislation so this appointment could happen behind us, it is nice that the Dems were able to handle this appointment without a lot of controversy and in-fighting. Maybe it is a sign that the Dems on the national level can find some harmony and get this HCR passed.
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Schmed
September 24, 2009 12:17 PM
Sometimes, irony isn't always delicious.
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mcc
September 24, 2009 12:48 PM in reply to Schmed
Wow. How did nobody notice this earlier?
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Schmed
September 24, 2009 12:51 PM in reply to mcc
They noticed it. They (Patrick) calculated that Kirk would be a reliable Dem regardless of his corporate strings (which they all share anyway).
Dukakis would have been a more honest appointment, but he's too independent for the Dems.
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fcleff
September 24, 2009 12:20 PM
I don't know if they are prowlers on the site but over at the N.Y. Times there are howls of fury and hypocrisy about this appt. I found that odd from such a liberal leaning readership.
But I have to agree with the above posts in that the Dems should get this to pass. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if Lieberman blows it for them.
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Schmed
September 24, 2009 12:48 PM in reply to fcleff
It's hard to find a positive comment over at the Boston Globe too. I guess Repubs from around the country have nothing better to do than to read NY Times publications online.
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fcleff
September 24, 2009 2:16 PM in reply to Schmed
The conspiracy side of me thinks that the Tea Baggers have organized an effort to flood the newspapers with negative comments.
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rickterp
September 24, 2009 2:18 PM in reply to Schmed
I would avoid boston.com for comments -- it seems to be a lightning rod for right-wing nuts. A good place to check out the feedback is Blue Mass Group, where the reaction has been mixed.
Speaking for myself, changing the law was messy but probably worth it to get the 60th vote back. The appointment itself -- basically letting the Kennedy family decide this and Gov. Patrick rubber-stamping the choice -- seems kind of lousy. But I'm not a Kennedy family fan -- great politics, but can act like an entitled dynasty willing to throw its weight around to get own of their own into office.
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Schmed
September 24, 2009 2:25 PM in reply to rickterp
I would avoid boston.com for comments
I can't help myself: I know one of the columnists there, so I read it daily. Also, as an exiled Yankee fan in Boston, I get a lot of schadenfreude reading all of the Red Sox fans' comments these days.
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Schmed
September 24, 2009 2:27 PM in reply to rickterp
But I'm not a Kennedy family fan -- great politics, but can act like an entitled dynasty willing to throw its weight around to get [one] of their own into office.
Looks like they're pretty good at it. Kirk's their man.
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rwc
September 24, 2009 3:55 PM in reply to Schmed
I'm from Boston and read the Globe site all the time. The letter boards there are almost always dominated by the same group of right-wing mouthbreathers, some of whom I suspect are paid, as Fcleff, implies. You'll find their snarky comments on just about every story, political or not (witness today's story on EEE killing a horse). They are a tiny minority here in this most liberal of states. The only poll taken on this issue showed the Mass. public supported the interim appointment by a 55-40% margin.
The Times letter boards usually feature mostly intelligent and progressive writers. Some of the Globe wackos probably went to the Times today in their fury.
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fcleff
September 24, 2009 6:20 PM in reply to rwc
"...some of whom I suspect are paid, as Fcleff, implies."
So I'm not crazy, after all?
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