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| Politics Forum Index » Democrats (House) Politics Forum » Kennedy loyalist tapped as Senate replacement. ... |
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| Major Debacle... |
 Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 8:12 am |
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ivEDvT9bYPFIxm
Y4gvlBgeXDHUmwD9ATTVKG0
BOSTON — Paul G. Kirk Jr. served Edward M. Kennedy as an aide,
rooted beside him at Harvard-Yale football games and is the
executor of his will. Now, as Kennedy's replacement in the
Senate, he is charged with trying to complete his late friend's
legacy by passing health care reform.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick tapped the former chairman of
the Democratic National Committee on Thursday to hold Kennedy's
seat until a special election Jan. 19. Kirk, 71, said he would
not run himself.
The announcement came after the Democratic-dominated Legislature
changed the state's Senate succession law to restore the
governor's power to appoint an interim replacement. Republicans
went to court in a last-ditch effort to stop Kirk from being
sworn in.
President Barack Obama and his staff lobbied for the change,
hoping to regain a 60th Democratic vote that would prevent
Senate filibusters from derailing his top legislative priority,
a national health care overhaul.
Obama said in a statement: "Paul Kirk is a distinguished leader,
whose long collaboration with Sen. Kennedy makes him an
excellent, interim choice to carry on his work until the voters
make their choice in January."
Kennedy's widow and sons had encouraged Patrick to appoint Kirk.
Vicki Kennedy and Edward Kennedy Jr. sat in the front row next
to Kirk's wife, Gail, as the governor made his announcement at
the Statehouse.
Besides health care, Patrick said Kirk would represent the
state's interests in upcoming debates on the economic recovery,
financial regulation and climate change.
"In all these and other ways, Congress is debating our future —
right now," Patrick said. "The issues before the Congress and
the nation are simply too important to Massachusetts for us to
be one voice short."
Kennedy died last month of brain cancer. Kirk, who has never
held elective office, recalled how his late friend used to say
representing Massachusetts in the Senate "was the highest honor
he possibly could have imagined."
"It's certainly nothing I imagined, but it would be my highest
honor as well," Kirk said.
He is to be sworn in Friday afternoon by Vice President Joe
Biden. The Massachusetts Republican Party went to a Boston court
seeking an injunction to stop Kirk's swearing-in, questioning an
emergency power the governor invoked in naming him.
In restoring the governor's power to appoint an interim senator,
lawmakers declined to have it go into effect immediately, rather
than after the standard 90 days. The governor has the power to
put the law into effect if he deems it an emergency; Republicans
say this law does not qualify.
State Secretary William F. Galvin said the power to make the
immediate appointment is "very clearly available" to governors
and was used more than a dozen times by Patrick's Republican
predecessor, Mitt Romney. The court set a hearing for 8 a.m.
Friday.
More broadly, Republicans have accused Patrick of a power grab.
In 2004, Democrats revoked the governor's power to appoint an
interim senator when Sen. John Kerry was running for president
because Romney stood to name his replacement if he won.
The appointment put Kirk's background under scrutiny.
Federal records show he registered as a lobbyist a decade ago
and represented two drugmakers before Congress. He has also held
several board positions, including at Hartford Financial
Services, which sells life and property insurance.
Kirk pledged to resign all of his current board seats. He noted
wryly that he had represented the drug and insurance companies
"back at the turn of the century" and said he holds no current
conflicts.
The senator-designate graduated from Harvard College and Harvard
Law School and served on Kennedy's staff from 1969 to 1977. He
ran the Democratic National Committee during Massachusetts Gov.
Michael Dukakis' unsuccessful run for president in 1988.
Kirk also co-founded the Commission on Presidential Debates,
which has sponsored every presidential and vice presidential
debate since 1988.
Kennedy's will, signed three years to the day before he died and
filed Thursday in probate court, names Kirk as executor. The
will leaves all of Kennedy's assets to a trust that provides for
his family.
Members of the family were quick to praise the appointment.
Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy,
said in a statement that Kirk's "wisdom, kindness and integrity
mean the world to the entire Kennedy family."
Vicki Kennedy, stressing that the decision to appoint Kirk was
the governor's, said she had conveyed to Patrick "the high
esteem with which the entire Kennedy family held Paul Kirk." |
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