Joe K Won't Run to Succeed Teddy

Dukakis would have been a better choice for Mass. and Patrick

(NEWSER) - Ted Kennedy’s seat “is not a Kennedy seat anymore.” His wife could have run. Or his nephew Joe. They chose not to. So why did Massachusetts' governor bow to the wishes of a now-defunct dynasty when choosing a replacement for the late senator? “Enough, finally, with the entitlement,” Boston Herald columnist Margery Eagan writes of the appointment of Kennedy confidant Paul Kirk, made official today. Kirk's ties to the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries, reported elsewhere in the Herald, raise big red flags. More»

(NEWSER) - He wasn't always the most articulate person in one-on-one conversations, but Ted Kennedy gave powerful speeches, writes Gail Russell Chaddock in the Christian Science Monitor. Three that resonate:

• His 1980 concession: “For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." Sure, the words came from a speechwriter, but only Kennedy's delivery made it work, says one historian. “You had to listen to it to fully get the impact.”

Ted Kennedy's wife, Victoria, is helping him recover—and could even take his job

(NEWSER) - She whipped Ted Kennedy's staff into action after his seizure; she brought the family to his bedside; she allowed the aging senator, diagnosed with brain cancer, to join in the traditional Cape Cod regatta on Memorial Day weekend. Victoria Reggie Kennedy, his wife of 16 years, is right by his side, the Boston Globe reports. And he wants her to replace him as senator, says the New York Daily News. More»

Mass. veteran is 17th to decide against re-election bid

(NEWSER) - Joining 16 of his fellow House Democrats, Massachusetts Rep. William Delahunt says he will not seek re-election this fall. “It’s got nothing to do with politics,” Delahunt, 68, tells the Boston Globe . “It’s time.” And while Delahunt had to be talked into seeking re-election in 2008 by his friend, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, the Globe notes that his district voted most lopsidedly for Republican Scott Brown in the January election to fill Kennedy’s seat. More»

Dems' options if Brown wins not looking good

(NEWSER) - With polls showing the majority of Americans opposed to the Democrats' health care reform bill, a victory for Scott Brown in Massachusetts today could sound the death of the party's yearlong effort at health reform. If Dems try to proceed with the reforms in the wake of a Brown victory, the GOP will have a strong case that a liberal minority is ignoring the will of voters to push its own agenda, the Washington Post reports. More»