Thinking the unthinkable: Who follows Ted Kennedy?

[wmenorr67]

WASHINGTON —  People in Massachusetts suddenly are thinking the unthinkable: Who possibly could succeed Sen. Edward Kennedy, patriarch of the famed political family that has dominated the state for more than four decades?

The news about Kennedy's cancerous brain tumor has led to quiet speculation about whether he may try to handpick a successor, possibly paving the way for a relative to take over his seat.

The prospect of Kennedy's eventual departure also has touched off a scramble involving Massachusetts congressmen and others.

Kennedy, 76, is not up for re-election until 2012. But his medical condition has people wondering if he might resign before then or decline to run for another term. Given Kennedy's stature in the Democratic-dominated state, it's a sensitive topic that few in politics are willing to talk about publicly.

"There will be great respect and delicacy, of course," said Tufts University political science professor Jeffrey Berry.

Over the years, the Kennedys have not shied away from grooming family members for office.

In 1962, Kennedy won the Senate seat that his brother, John, held before winning the presidency in 1960.

The Kennedys helped arrange the appointment of John's old roommate, Benjamin A. Smith, to the seat until Edward Kennedy turned 30 and was legally old enough to run for the Senate. Kennedy has held the seat ever since.

With the senator's health now in question, Kennedy's nephew, former Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, D-Mass., is seen as a possible heir. He is sitting on about $2 million in leftover campaign funds.

But the younger Kennedy, who provides low-cost heating oil to the poor through Boston-based Citizens Energy Corp., has balked at running for governor in recent years and shows scant interest in jumping back into politics.

There is the possibility one of the senator's sons, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., or Edward Kennedy Jr., could seek their father's seat. Kennedy's wife, Vicki, has been mentioned, too. There are other Kennedys, too, who could decide to run.

Brown University political science professor Wendy Schiller, who studies Congress, doubts that a family member will succeed the senator, given the faded Kennedy mystique.

"The days when you could do that easily without any backlash _ those days are gone," she said.

When the Kennedys maneuvered to win Edward Kennedy his Senate seat four decades ago, the family was intent on building a political dynasty and the Senate was seen as a launching pad for the White House, Schiller said.

"I don't see that necessarily happening with any of the second-generation Kennedys now," she said. "Kennedys can be effective in all sorts of arenas. They don't necessarily have to go to the Senate now."

Beyond the Kennedy clan, Massachusetts boasts a lengthy list of potential candidates from both parties:

_Possible Democrats include Gov. Deval Patrick, Martha Coakley, the state's attorney general; Rep. Edward J. Markey; Rep. Barney Frank; Rep. Stephen Lynch; Rep. Michael Capuano; and Rep. James McGovern. Former Rep. Martin Meehan, who resigned his seat to become chancellor of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell last year, has $4.8 million in leftover campaign funds.

_Among the potential GOP candidates are former Massachusetts Govs. Mitt Romney and William Weld; former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey; and former White House chief of staff Andrew Card. Romney's bid to unseat Kennedy in 1994 failed.

Unlike most states, Kennedy's successor would be chosen by a special election, not the governor.

State law requires a special election for the seat no sooner than 145 days and no later than 160 days after a vacancy occurs. The law bans an interim appointee.

The law was changed in 2004, when Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry became the Democratic presidential nominee and Romney was governor. Before the change, the governor would have appointed a replacement to serve until the next general election.

That would have created the opportunity to install a fellow Republican in office, a move Democrats who control the state Legislature wanted to block.

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008May22/0,4670,KennedySuccessor,00.html

Any takers from here?

[Regolith]

The news about Kennedy's cancerous brain tumor has led to quiet speculation about whether he may try to handpick a successor, possibly paving the way for a relative to take over his seat.

You know, I may have fallen asleep in history class a couple of times, but I could have sworn we did away with that whole "nobility" and "inherited office" thing when we broke from Britain. 

[Bigjake]

Makes you wonder what's in the water up there.    You think these Mass. types would get as sick of "Family political Dynasties" as we are.

With any luck, Ted won't last long, and his family won't be able to maneuver another one of their ilk into politics in time to make a difference.

They day I don't hear the name "Kennedy" in the news can't come soon enough.

[Ex-MA Hole]

They are like Kings and Queens up here.

[Manedwolf]

They are like Kings and Queens up here.

Well. In MA they are. The only politician I see respected as if they were royalty in NH is Daniel Webster.

NH is more on the order of "Throw the bum out!" if they make a serious policy mistake. Like they are with the governor right now with the profligate spending that's resulted in a budget shortfall.

I just wish the "waaa, we need a tax!" idiots would move to Connecticut, so they can experience the fact that sales and income taxes do NOT lower property taxes.

[Ex-MA Hole]

Sorry Maned.....I was speaking as a MA person.....Forgot I moved to a free Country a few years back....

[Manedwolf]

Sorry Maned.....I was speaking as a MA person.....Forgot I moved to a free Country a few years back....

Heh, oh, I know. As long as you don't forget and go wandering into a police station asking how to renew your FID.

[MicroBalrog]

I just wish the "waaa, we need a tax!" idiots would move to Connecticut, so they can experience the fact that sales and income taxes do NOT lower property taxes.

There are morons who challenge this?

 

[Ex-MA Hole]

Just renewed my MA non-res last week....$100 + $15 + $6....plus the passport photos.....

Sigh.....

[Manedwolf]

Just renewed my MA non-res last week....$100 + $15 + $6....plus the passport photos.....

Sigh.....

I'd just about finished the paperwork for mine. What did you put for "Why do you want to carry a firearm in the commonwealth" and all?

[41magsnub]

Turns out he would like his wife to take his Senate seat:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/05/22/2008-05-22_ted_kennedy_id_like_wife_to_take_seat.html

BY IAN BISHOP
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, May 22nd 2008, 4:00 AM

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.

"She's smart, and smart politically."

The 54-year-old Victoria Reggie Kennedy, a former hotshot Washington lawyer, is a Louisiana native and the daughter of a politically active judge.

She was hailed for holding the family together when John F. Kennedy Jr. was killed in a plane crash in 1999.

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.

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.

It's not yet clear how long he will stay in the Senate while battling a usually fatal cancer.

ibishop@nydailynews.com

[Ex-MA Hole]

"I travel to MA frequently for business.  I also have a lot of family in MA.  I wish be able to protect myself.  I carry daily in New Hampshire."

I used to put something in about having a little girl and wanting to protect her as well, but stopped that last year....

[nico]

Kennedy, 76, is not up for re-election until 2012. But his medical condition has people wondering if he might resign before then or decline to run for another term. Given Kennedy's stature in the Democratic-dominated state, it's a sensitive topic that few in politics are willing to talk about publicly.

I'm always amazed by how willfully stupid the media is about anything science or medicine related.  First, the BS about how Patrick Swayze is has a "mild" form of pancreatic cancer, and now this.  Unless they misdiagnosed kennedy, he won't be alive in 2010, nevermind 2012.  Neither will Swayze for that matter.

[Standing Wolf]

"Kennedys can be effective in all sorts of arenas. They don't necessarily have to go to the Senate now."

Jails, prisons, psychiatric facilities, drug treatment facilities: the list could go on and on.

[nico]

don't forget stunt driver

[41magsnub]

don't forget stunt driver

Crash test dummy would be better

[Manedwolf]

I find it amusing how quickly the Dems, vulture-like, are fighting about successor.

Perhaps they should hit a large stone with swords to see who shatters it first.

[Sergeant Bob]

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.

At least there would be no surprises as to what kind of Lib would be taking his place.

I find it amusing how quickly the Dems, vulture-like, are fighting about successor.

Perhaps they should hit a large stone with swords to see who shatters it first.

Yeah, remember the Paul Wellstone funeral campaign rally?

[wmenorr67]

I find it amusing how quickly the Dems, vulture-like, are fighting about successor.

Perhaps they should hit a large stone with swords to see who shatters it first.

Then someone with a real weapon comes along and takes over.

[Manedwolf]

I find it amusing how quickly the Dems, vulture-like, are fighting about successor.

Perhaps they should hit a large stone with swords to see who shatters it first.

Then someone with a real weapon comes along and takes over.

It was a reference to the succession scene in The Dark Crystal, old Henson movie.

The vulture-like creatures did just that, the one that broke the stone was the successor, the other was stripped of their robes and exiled.

[Scout26]

Mitt Romney ?

[nico]

don't forget stunt driver

Crash test dummy would be better

as long as recovery diver isn't on the list. . .

[Bigjake]

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.

Why, exactly, does he get to pick who succeeds him?  Is that constitutional?  Arrogant SOB, that one.

[Perd Hapley]

Libby Dole, Hillary Clinton, Gene Carnahan, now Vicki Kennedy?  What is it with the wives? 

[Glock Glockler]

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.

Yes, he's perfect!  Whenever you're taling to a person from Mass. and mention the word "Kennedy" you'll see a glazed look come over their eyes as they look upwards, the more of a lowlife the Kennedy is the better because the Mass. idiot needs to enter their fantasy world to remain consistent.  It's similar to what the Obama fanatics do when you point out the plethora of instances of when he contradicts himself.