There's a lot of talk about changing the law in Massachusetts to allow a temporary Senator to be appointed quickly to sit in Ted Kennedy's seat. Not all that long ago, the law was changed to prevent then-governor Mitt Romney from appointing a Republican to take the other Massachusetts seat if John Kerry was elevated to the White House. Now some of the same folks want to change it again so there'll be a Democrat there to vote the way Kennedy would have voted the next few months, especially on Health Care Reform.
(And by the way: Don'tcha just love how some on both sides are already twisting themselves into Rold Gold Pretzels trying to use Kennedy's passing in the Health Care argument? Democrats are saying, "This was what Teddy called 'The cause of my life.' Let's pass it in his honor!" Okay, a little shameless but I don't think Kennedy would have had a problem with it. The hard part is guys like Hatch and McCain who with one breath will speak of their dear, dear friend and then in the next sentence, spin how it's in his honor that they're going to oppose what he championed. The current talking point seems to be to claim that if he'd been more active lately, Ted would have shaped Health Care Reform into something that would have had bipartisan support…)
Anyway, I don't know what to think of changing the law in Massachusetts. The arguments for and against all seem to me to have merit…so I wonder if maybe the larger answer is that we need to get rid of this recurring dilemma. Every time there's a Senate vacancy, there's a big to-do about how it should be filled and must an appointed successor be of the same party and should it be a caretaker or someone who's qualified for the long run and what if the governor appoints himself?
Why don't we just have Vice-Senators or something of the sort? How about if when someone runs for Senator, he or she designates — as part of the ticket so voters are voting with this knowledge — someone who'd be next in line for the seat if there's a need? It doesn't have to be someone who also gets a job in the government, though the elected Senator would be free to hire him or her on staff. We just have someone on Student Standby…someone the voters choose at the same time to jump in if there's a void. If the Vice-Senator dies or chooses to no longer be in the "on deck" circle, there'd be a process to pick the new person…and that could be done in a more leisurely, less contentious environment. At the same time, we'd say that if you're a Senator, you can't quit or run for higher office unless your successor is in place.
I know, I know. They'll never do it because it makes too much sense…and maybe because they won't want to rule out the possibility of exploiting a vacancy for political gain. But it would make so much sense. The easiest way to deal with most problems is to figure out how to not have them in the first place.