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http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-20-kennedy-senate-replacement_N.htmWASHINGTON — An ailing Sen. Edward Kennedy is urging Massachusetts' political leaders to change state law to assure his swift replacement if he has to surrender his seat...
Norman Ornstein, a veteran Congress-watcher with the American Enterprise Institute, said that Kennedy's letter is a sign that the canny lawmaker is continuing to count votes — and is worried his party might come up short on controversial measures such as the president's proposals for overhauling health care and addressing climate change.
If we assume for the sake of argument that he's not stepping down because he cares about his constituents and considers some of the laws up for vote right now to be very important, isn't it worse to die in the middle of his term and leave his seat unfilled - or to not be able to take part in the shaping of the laws? Isn't he acknowledging a high probability that he will not be able to fulfill the duties he was elected to do (in reality, he hasn't been, for months)? This strikes me as Brett Farve type logic where he says what he's doing is important to him, but the reality is that that's a selfish thing and by not stepping down he's harming his constituency.
The absence of media commentary about this issue is noteworthy to me, given the large treatment John McCain's age got in the last election. The difference, of course, is that McCain's age issue was all just speculation and gambling, whereas Kennedy is already neglecting his duties.
Ironically, part of the reason this is a problem is because of a subversion of the democratic process by the Democrats in Mass:
I can't believe I didn't hear about that before. That sort of subversion of the democratic process is the type of thing we hear about and decry in Russia and Venezuela. I can't believe that was legal (or maybe it wasn't and its just no one chose to challenge it).The Democratic-controlled legislature changed the state's succesion law in 2004, denying then-governor Mitt Romney, a Republican, the ability to fill a Senate vacancy as Democratic Sen. John Kerry competed for the White House.