In 2004, the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate, in which the Democrats held an overwhelming majority, voted to change the state law which provided that in the event of a vacancy in the U.S. senate, the Governor of Massachusetts would appoint an interim senator. According to the new law, all future vacancies would be fi lled by way of a special election.
The circumstances surrounding the 2004 vote were pretty obvious. John Kerry, a U.S Senator from Massachusetts, was the Democratic nominee for President. Mitt Romney, a Republican, was Governor of Massachusetts. The Democrats in the State House and Senate were worried that if Kerry became President, Romney would appoint a Republican to fill Kerry’s Senate seat. To prevent this from happening, they voted to change the existing law so that if Kerry became President a special election would be held to determine his successor. Although this vote was clearly politically motivated, it was reasonable.
Less than six years later, the Democrats have undone what they did in 2004. In a sudden change of conviction, Massachusetts Democrats have decided that the Republicans were right in 2004 and that the Governor should fill all vacancies. Isn’t it great that we finally have politicians who will admit their mistakes and seek to correct them? Not so fast!
Not surprisingly, the circumstances were different this time around. For starters, Deval Patrick, a Democrat, is Governor of Massachusetts. Additionally, a vacancy already existed in the United States Senate as a result of the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. To make matters even more interesting, Senator Kennedy, a political icon in Massachusetts, left a letter in which he expressed support for changing the law in order to allow Governor Patrick to appoint his replacement.
Prior to the passing of the bill, which passed both houses with less than a day’s worth of debate, there would have been a special election held in January to determine who would have served as the interim replacement for the late Senator Kennedy. On the surface, this appears to have been a reasonable proposition. So, why were the Democrats in such a hurry to change the law?
As I’m sure many of you already know, Governor Patrick appointed Paul Kirk, a liberal democrat, to replace Senator Kennedy in the United States Senate. Senator Kirk is now immediately eligible to vote on legislation. Although state Democrats have tried to disguise their underhanded actions as an issue of representation, in reality their motivation was purely political and had absolutely nothing to do with the well-being of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
It had everything to do with providing Democrats with a filibuster proof majority in the United States Senate, which will allow President Obama to rush his agenda, especially his health care proposal, through Congress before the midterm Congressional elections. There is little doubt that state Democrats folded amidst the pressure to act quickly, which came from the party’s leadership in Washington D.C.
The effort put forth by Massachusetts Democrats to change this law was an example of cowardice, hypocrisy and political maneuvering. The Democrats have used their overwhelming majority in the state legislature in an attempt to manipulate national policy. They have bypassed and ignored the voice of the people of Massachusetts and deprived them of the right to vote in a special election.
If the Democrats truly were convinced that they made a mistake in 2004, then they should have changed the law going forward so that it would not have affected the current vacancy. Unfortunately, they would have never even dreamed of doing this because their vote had absolutely nothing to do with principle.
As for Senator Kennedy’s letter, there was understandably a good bit of emotional pull to carry out his wishes by allowing Gov. Patrick to appoint his successor. However, Senator Kennedy was undeniably a partisan and clearly had universal healthcare in mind when he wrote the letter. This may sound a harsh, but Senator Kennedy’s wishes should have been completely irrelevant. Laws of succession exist for a reason, and whether or not these laws fit the political agenda of the predecessor should be immaterial even if the predecessor’s last name is Kennedy.
It is unethical for Massachusetts Democrats to change this law to meet their political objectives. Hopefully the people of Massachusetts will see through this political ploy and vote those who seek to play political games with the law out of office.
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