Dukakis Is Gracious on Senate Snub

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»

(NEWSER) - Gov. Deval Patrick should be able to name a Democratic replacement for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat before the end of the week, the Boston Globe reports. Legislation giving hm the authority to do so cleared the state Senate today, a week after the House passed it. The measure still needs to be formally enacted tomorrow, but no further snags are expected. So who will Patrick pick? A Globe editorial today pushed for Michael Dukakis. More»

(NEWSER) - Ted Kennedy's Senate seat will likely remain vacant until early next year, reports CBS News. Massachusetts law specifies that a special election be scheduled between 145 and 160 days from now, and doesn't allow Gov. Deval Patrick to appoint an interim successor. Kennedy himself urged Massachusetts legislators in a recent letter to overturn that provision, with an eye to the importance of every Democratic vote when a health care reform bill comes to the floor. More»