We may not lose a Dem Senate seat in Mass.

[Killarney]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/03/05/democrats_bank_on_election_bill/
With support building for the change, Beacon Hill Democrats filed legislation yesterday to strip Governor Mitt Romney of his power to fill the Senate seat that Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry would vacate if he wins in November.

The bill, sponsored by the House and Senate cochairmen of the Joint Committee on Elections Laws, would mandate a special election within 105 to 130 days after a vacancy in the Senate is declared. The seat would not be filled temporarily.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

1. And Romney is whining about that

Why should a Governor have power to appoint a Senator anyway?

[PATRICK]

3. Not many failsafe substitutes

for the people's elected choice. And the people of the whole state did elect the Governor too. It might be interesting if each official designated an heir in their will or that their party would have the ultimate say, but none of those are completely comforting.

There is a gaping opportunity in this age of terrorism for the party that controls the most Governorships to realign the nation in the event of an attack on the Capitol- which very nearly happened while Bush was reading children's books on 9/11. Even parties themselves could change drastically.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

6. Joe Kennedy

Tom Reilly, Mass Attorney General; Barney Frank; a few others could beat a Repuke.

The Dems ran a weak candidate against Romney-and he had a hard time beating Shannon O'Brien.

[WarNoMore]

12. I'd love to see

Joe Kennedy run.

[thom1102]

14. Robert Reich

I don't understand why he didn't do better.

[Aunt Eunice]

4. Before the 17th Ammendment..

..Governors appointed all Senators. So there is a basis in history.

Beyond that, it's up to individual state laws. Seats often change hands between parties when a Senator is lost.

The Dem governor of Georgia appointed a Dem, Max Cleland, when Republican Paul Coverdale died. In Missouri, you may recall the newly elected Dem Gov appointed Carnahan's wife to Ashcrofts seat.

[SGasMan]

8. "Before the 17th Ammendment.."

Actually, the Dem governor of GA appointed Zell Miller, who then won a special election 2 years later. Cleland won Sam Nunn's seat in a regular election.

[Aunt Eunice]

11. thanks

Regardless of voting to the contrary, he is a Dem, appointed to a Republicans lost seat.

[thom1102]

15. Well, not quite...

Asscrack lost the election to Carnahan, who, even dead, beat Asscrack. The Gov merely appointed Jean Carnahan until a special election could fill the seat.

[Aunt Eunice]

17. I believe that's what I said

That the Gov had appointed Carnahan's wife. He could have appointed anyone.

[atre]

21. About Carnahan

I think they actually had a Republican governor at the time. The only reason he made the appointment was because the immense public pressure to do so.

[aldian159]

22. no, the state legislatures appointed the senators

[Rockholm]

9. This Fix Is Already In....

Kerry becomes president. Kerry resigns Senate seat. Romney resigns from Governor. Kerry Healy becomes Governor and annoints Romney as Senator. Gag.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

10. He would never get away with that-and it would hurt his future

political career.

[BabsSong]

2. The repuks constantly use any thing they can legally pull to

grab power. Let the legislature in Mass. use their power to re-do the law. No repuke would have difficulty following the law, would they?????

[Aunt Eunice]

5. I think it hurts our cause..

..to be constantly changing the rules to benefit our candidates.

As was done when Torricelli stepped down, or for example, when the Florida Supreme Court changed the election laws in mid-stream. If not for the FSC, the US Supremes would never have gotten involved in Florida.

[Dookus]

13. Nonsense

The FSC didn't change any election laws. They were asked to reconcile two conflicting provisions, and they did. Courts do it every day.

[midnight armadillo]

25. It's the way the game is played

It's all about winning and using power, not playing the most fair way.

[Bandit]

7. We just got a petition approved to place on our ballot

The exact same thing. Our governor placed his own daughter in the US Senate and a lot of people are quite upset over it. We want it to be the people's choice and I believe it will become that way. A lot of people are very unhappy with our governor.

[Zolok]

16. It is the Mass GOP that lacks a bench...

who is Romney gonna appoint?
Assuming he doesn't appoint himself as I think he might.
He is that shameless...
Jane "jingle money" Swift?
Kerry Healey?
The corpse of Steve Pierce?
No...if he appoints himself, I say we impeach Healey on whatever charge that will stick and put Billy Galvin in office....nothing overalls the GOP save a show of raw force.
If he appoints Healey, the same likewise.
That having been said, I've never been comfortable with the unrestricted gubernatorial right of senate appointment...too royalist for me.
But oh what a primary we'd have in the Bay State...Bob Reich, Marty Meehan, and Barney Frank and that is just for starters.
Don't know who I'd vote for, they are all such able statesmen.

Forget about Joe Kennedy though, I love him, but it's the governorship or nothing for him...and only if he can raise the 20 million needed.
:)

MASSACHUSETTS FIRST
MASSACHUSETTS LAST
MASSACHUSETTS ALWAYS

ALL OR NOTHING
KERRY IN 2004!
www.chimesatmidnight.blogspot.com

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

18. what if kerry resigned now?

i know nothing about MA law.

[WI_DEM]

19. are there enough democrats to block over ride Romney's veto?

eom.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

20. Mass Leg is 95% Dem

So yes

[KharmaTrain]

23. Slipery Slope...Don't Mess With Things

I will hope that our biggest problem next December is who Mitt Romney appoints to fill John Kerry's seat...but I'm not up for creating a special Senate election, and establishing a precedent that could come back to hurt us in the future. I'll take control of the Executive and lose that Senate seat than the other way around.

If Romney had to select a replacement for Kerry, the pressure on him will be immense. First, if this is the case, then the Democrats have done extremely well in the November elections and will emboldened to stand up to any partisan hijinks. Next, there's no state that is more Democrat in this country than Massetchussets...so even a Repugnican would be a RINO...and that the seat would return to Democratic hands in 2006.

I'd love to see this as the cause for us to work hard in getting more Democrats elected to the Senate in open and contested seats. Then the 2 year loss of a seat in the Senate will be price we pay for tossing out this rebime.

[Larkspur]

24. What happens if Mass voters elect a Repuke in Kerry's place?

Mass voters put Romney in the Governor's office, so why wouldn't they put a Repuke in Kerry's seat? Gov. Weld lost to Kerry by 7% in 1996. If the Repukes get someone like Weld, the Dems strategy could backfire.

And this act by the Dem Legislature could be repeated in states with a Dem Gov and a Repuke Legislature. You know, karma is a b*tch.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

27. There are no Welds left in Mass

There are much stronger Dem candidates

[DrBB]

26. I hope no one thinks the Mass governorship is, like, a powerful

...position or anything. We're like Texas--all the real heavy lifting is in the legislature. Tom Finneran's way more powerful than Romney in terms of what actually gets changed or legislated here.

So if Tom really wants to pull this off, yeah, he probably can.

[MoonRiver]

28. Go for it! The Pukes have to be stopped in their tracks!

There's nothing illegal or distorted about passing legislature to prevent the Puke thugs from grabbing more power. I don't think its in our best interests to remain smiley faced and polite while our liberties and country are being destroyed. And has everybody forgotten the Puke engineered Gray Davis recall in CA? That was "legal" and its been portrayed as just hunky dorey now. I also believe that those states where * won't be able to file his candidacy on time, because the Repub convention is so late, should hold fast and not put him on the ballot. Just like the CA recall, it's perfectly legal }(.