I don’t know, but Martha Coakley is going be our next Senator.

What’s the procedure for filling their seats?

Right now, only by special election which will not occur until next year. Ted requested that the law be amended to allow an interim appointment. Good chance of passing but it requires a ruling by the Massachusetts General Court which does not convene until after Labor Day.

Or were you referring to the House members if they get bumped up to the Senate? Probably also requires a special election.

[snark]

how come mitt romney’s not mentioned, isn’t he being considered for the election too?

[/snark]

Blue Dogs are bad enough we don’t need any (car) Roof Dog Democrats.

Why would these stalwart members of the House be willing to accept an interim appointment, with the provision, as I understand it, of not being permitted to run in the special election?

And why must such an appointment be of some member of Congress?

Maybe appointing a comedian, for instance, would be a wiser choice?

We’ve rather had our fill of comity, of late and levity might be just the “ticket”.

DW

Isn’t there some technicality that makes it illegal for an android to assume a Senate seat? Just sayin’…

he does in fact believe he came from another planet where everyone is a god only to be assigned their kingdom

but that’s another discussion

If the legislature changes the law, I think Kennedy stipulated that anyone who got an appointment could not run again. Which means that none of the above would likely take the gig.

If they don’t change the law and it goes to a special election, it will probably be a free-for-all.

Focusing on Kennedy’s legacy for a few days is certainly good and healthy for our country, but it has also shaken up things quite a bit. It’s hard to know how it will impact health care reform. Will we get an interim replacement from Mass. to bring us back to 60 votes or not. How is Senator Byrd’s health?

Maybe reflecting on Kennedy’s dedication and public service will shake some sense into a ConservaDem or two – or better yet one of the dying breed of moderate Republicans.

I guess what it means is that we are going to need to keep up intense pressure throughout the process – things clearly aren’t going to get any easier, but perhaps TK can beam some of his tenacity down on us from the afterlife to see his life’s work proceed.

Patrick and Obama are fairly tight, correct? If so and if Patrick gets to appoint a Senator, we will know whether Obama really wants a public option or is indifferent.

I’ve got a problem with counting Short Ride as one of the 60 Dem votes. There’s no guarantee that Short Ride will vote with the Dems on any issue, regardless of what Lightbrain Harry says.

we will know whether Obama really wants a public option or is indifferent

I’ve been thinking that Obama’s eulogy for Kennedy will also be very important to listen to, for this reason.

Good point, we couldn’t count him as a Dem vote back when he was a Dem.

The reality of it is (as I see it) we technically only need 50 votes to pass (tie-breaker goes to Biden). But to get that vote we need to avoid the filibuster. In my more optimistic moments, I wonder if some of the ConservaDems in the Senate would be able to actually vote with Republicans to support a filibuster. They may vote against the ultimate legislation, but it’s taking a bigger leap to vote to filibuster. And my hope is they wouldn’t have the nerve.

But I’m constantly surprised by the nerve of these yahoos.

Short Ride has already said that we shouldn’t rush, that we have plenty of time. He’s going to stab us in the back again.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of the ConservaDems support a filibuster, particularly if the bill contains a strong public option section.

“If they don’t change the law and it goes to a special election, it will probably be a free-for-all.”

Scary. How long do you suppose such a clusterF process might take?

He is also for splitting the bill into two parts, per his sunday statement. I doubt very much he is an ally on this.

We know what Short Ride will prolly do. Harry the Fool, however, is apparently incapable of learning from Short Ride’s past behaviour. I call it willful ignorance.

Blue Texan’s regularly scheduled post is up and ready if you all are: “Over Half of Blue Dogs’ 2009 Campaign Contributions from Health Care Industry”

Stephen Lynch needs to go down. He only won his seat because it was a 4 way primary with 3 progressives and “no-choice” Lynch. The progressives split their vote 3 ways and he got all the conservadem votes.

Don’t encourage Lynch to do the right thing. He needs to show his true stripes.

JMO, YMMV.

If they change the law and let Patrick appoint a temp who will not run again I’d put money on it being Dukakis. Patrick’s polling is in the crapper and he was a VERY popular guy when he got elected. (Sound like anyone else we know?) Dukakis is a safe and sage choice that will help Patrick.

If Joe Kennedy declines to run. If he wants it he would be nearly impossible to beat.

are u all communists? why you advocate a avowed maxist, that wnats to destroy our sytem and rebuild it into communism? if u don’t like this system, why not move to communist cuba?

this is a country where a recent poll showed that virtually all people re conservative. why do u want to destroy our constitution, destroy our monetary sytem, create massive inflation, put us in unending debt and inflation and rebuilt our sytem into communism?