Mass. Senate Clears Way for Kennedy Successor

But allies say he was passed over due to Kennedy pressure

(NEWSER) - For a while it looked as if Michael Dukakis would be headed to the Senate to fill Ted Kennedy's seat, but the former Massachusetts governor says he's fine with being passed over. "Hey, after you've run for the presidency of the United States..." the 1988 candidate told the Boston Globe before trailing off. He has nothing but praise for Paul Kirk, the former DNC chairman whom Gov. Deval Patrick selected: "If it had to be somebody else, believe me, this was the guy." More»

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»

Family friend, former staffer was emcee at Teddy's memorial

(NEWSER) - Deval Patrick has chosen former Democratic Party national chairman Paul Kirk to replace Ted Kennedy in the Senate, giving Barack Obama the 60th vote he needs to pass health care reform. The 71-year-old Kirk is a former Kennedy staffer, and was such close friends with the senator that he served as master of ceremonies at his memorial service. He’s also a former pharmaceutical company lobbyist, and a board member at Hartford Insurance Group. More»

(NEWSER) - Former DNC chairman Paul Kirk will get Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, sources tell Fox News. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is expected to make the formal pick tomorrow, assuming the state legislature irons out the logistics today. Kennedy's sons called Patrick to push for Kirk, 71, a Boston attorney who served as an aide to their father and is a close family friend. He ran the Democratic National Committee in the 1980s, up until the presidential candidacy of the other front-runner for Kennedy's seat, Michael Dukakis. More»

Massachusetts Dems say they've got the votes in both houses

(NEWSER) - It's possible that Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick will be able to name a senator to fill Ted Kennedy's seat sometime next week, the Boston Globe reports. Proponents of the plan say they've now got enough votes, barely, in both state chambers to pull it off. The situation is diciest in the Senate, where Republicans could yet gum up the works with parliamentary maneuvers. But if things hold, Patrick could have a bill to sign by Friday. More»