Succession
It’s not a Senate seat, it’s a fiefdom, if this is in fact what they have in mind. NY Daily News, Ted wants Vicki to replace him:
Ted Kennedy has made clear to confidants that when his time is up, he wants his Senate seat to stay in the family - with his wife, Vicki.
Multiple sources in Massachusetts with close ties to the liberal lion say his wife of 16 years has long been his choice to continue carrying the family flame in the Senate. Kennedy won the seat in 1962; his brother John held it from 1953 to 1960.
“There’s no question that he’d like Vicki to continue in his seat,” said one Massachusetts Democrat with ties to the Camelot clan who spoke to Kennedy recently, before his health crisis.
…
By favoring his wife, Kennedy, 76, is bypassing his late brother Robert Kennedy’s eldest son, Joe, a former congressman.
Joe Kennedy has been maligned publicly for a messy divorce and close ties with Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, who assists his Boston-based fuel company for the poor.
He also opted not to run for governor a number of years ago. It’s interesting that the article doesn’t even mention Patches, the RI congressman who’s been dealing with personal issues and has never been considered a high performer, or others such as RFK Jr., residency being a minor issue. It is ironic that in a blatantly partisan move, the state Legislature a few years ago removed the easiest means of ensuring a succession:
Under current Massachusetts law, his successor for the rest of his term, which ends in 2012, would be picked by special election. State rules that allowed the governor to pick a temporary replacement were changed in 2004 when John Kerry was the presidential nominee and the Democratic state legislature feared then-GOP Gov. Mitt Romney would appoint a fellow Republican if Kerry won.
Political pros, however, say a dying Kennedy’s endorsement of Vicki would likely carry enormous weight with state voters.
The situation isn’t helped by the fact that state is probably without a viable Republican, and the Democrats are unlikely to challenge the Kennedy will. Well, free country. People can vote for all the Kennedys, Clintons, Bushes they want to.
Topics: pols
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 1:28 pm on Thursday, May 22, 2008
3 Responses to “Succession”
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May 22nd, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Two centuries ago, the founders of this nation fought and died to remove the yoke of the English nobles from our necks.
Now, so much money and organization is required to successfully run for national office (or even state office) that we are seeing the rise of a new American noble class, to put us under the yoke once again.
Congress is badly in need of fresh blood, but unless someone finds a way to lower the barriers to entry, we’ll continue to see the same bozos (or their relatives) running unopposed cycle after cycle. Unfortunately I have no idea how to accomplish this.
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:08 am
[...] Answer: Well it has been in the family since 1951 (except for a brief period when his brother was elected president). Jules Crittenden has more. [...]
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Is this what Americans have fought for all this time? To see our government run by dynasties?