Obama Putting Political Pressure On Mass. Governor To Quickly Replace Kennedy
Sep 18, 2009 25 Comments ›› Erik Wong
RICHMOND, Mass. — Gov. Deval Patrick said Friday that President Barack Obama had personally talked to him about changing the Senate succession law in Massachusetts, and White House aides were pushing for him to gain the power to temporarily replace the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy amid the administration’s health care push.
A month after a White House spokesman labeled the issue a state matter, Patrick said he and Obama spoke about changing the law as they both attended Kennedy’s funeral in Boston last month. He also said White House aides have been in contact frequently ever since and pushing for the change so they can regain their filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate.
“He and his whole team have been very clear about that,” Patrick told reporters after holding a Cabinet meeting near his Berkshire Mountains vacation home.
“It’s out there that the Senate president and the (House) speaker are trying to figure out whether this can be accomplished, and he fully understands, as do his aides, who I have talked to more about it, the importance of having the support for a change agenda down in Washington,” Patrick added.
The governor spoke just moments after Republicans in the Massachusetts Senate temporarily blocked a bill allowing Patrick to name an interim appointment.
Democrats changed the succession law in 2004 to create a five-month special election campaign and block then-Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, from naming a temporary replacement if Sen. John Kerry had won his presidential bid.
To change the law now that there is a Democrat in the governor’s office smacks of hypocrisy, the GOP says. The special election campaign is under way, with party primaries scheduled for Dec. 8 and the general election set for Jan. 19.
Sen. Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican who raised the objection, said he assumes Democratic leaders believe they have the votes to pass the bill, yet he still holds out hope enough Democrats may be swayed to vote against it.
“I think there is some doubt about the ultimate outcome. Clearly the vote in the House was not a completely partisan vote,” he said. “I’m not sure that anyone has an accurate count on who is on the yes side and who is on the no side.”
Republicans, who hold just five of 40 seats in the state Senate, objected to the bill being taken up without formal notice. Under Senate rules, the objection means the bill can’t be debated until the next formal session, scheduled for Monday. The GOP has said it is reviewing options to force a further delay.
Senate President Therese Murray, a Democrat, has been tightlipped about the bill’s chances.
The delay came a day after the Massachusetts House voted 95-58 in favor of the bill, with 42 House Democrats joining all 16 Republicans in opposition.
Supporters, including House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Democrat, said the change is needed to ensure Massachusetts continues to be represented by two senators until voters can choose a replacement in the special election.
Kennedy, in a letter sent to lawmakers, urged the change in law in a letters to Patrick and legislative leaders shortly before his death last month of brain cancer.
He said, “It is vital for this Commonwealth to have two voices speaking for the needs of its citizens.”
Besides Obama and his team, others in Washington closely watching the debate include Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Massachusetts’ all-Democratic delegation to the U.S. House.
Obama presidential counselor David Axelrod has contacted Massachusetts officials and the Massachusetts branch of Obama’s political arm, Organizing for America, has sent out e-mails advocating for the change.
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. said Friday that qualms about whether to allow the interim appointment shouldn’t be used to help defeat major policy issues like expanding Americans access to health care.
“Public policy questions important to everyone in America shouldn’t be decided by a tragedy of death or some other non-electoral factor,” Frank said.
The bill initially would have required the appointee be from the same party as the person who created the vacancy, a Democrat in the case of Kennedy’s successor.
That requirement was stripped after critics in the House raised constitutional concerns and noted that more than half of voters in Massachusetts aren’t enrolled in any party and would be barred from consideration.
Patrick has said he would extract from the appointee a promise not to be a candidate in the special election.
