History Is Watching, Governor Patrick

by Scott H. Payne on August 28, 2009

Tom Meyer at the Federalist Paupers has an interesting historical parallel to the current controversy over filling Sen Ted Kennedy’s now vacant Senate seat. Funny thing about democratic politics, it seems doomed to operate with either far too much expediency, or none at all.

Tagged as: Duval Patrick, Federalist Paupers, Massechusetts, Senate seat, ted kennedy, Tom Meyer

Scott is a sometimes blogger and social media consultant/principal at East Side Media. In addition to writing at the League of Ordinary Gentlemen, Scott is also a founding member of Beams and Struts and a fellow at the Canadian Council for Democracy's blog the Commons. You can reach Scott via email and follow him on Twiter.

{ 7 comments }

1 ChrisWWW August 28, 2009 at 9:28 am

Or you could blame it on Mitt Romney.

2 Dan Miller August 28, 2009 at 11:28 am

Too much expediency? I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that health care reform shouldn’t fail just because Ted Kennedy happened to die. Should they have addressed this before? No doubt. But switching to a better system for replacement senators is always a good idea–something like the one Dylan Matthews outlines here.

3 Trumwill August 28, 2009 at 5:39 pm

Eh. What seems like the right thing to do in this circumstance (Massachusetts 2009) doesn’t seem right in other circumstances (Massachusetts 2004, Illinois 2009). When making big changes like this, it’s best to do them at a time when there isn’t a whole lot immediately riding on the outcome.

4 Mark Thompson August 28, 2009 at 6:49 pm

Right. The definition of what constitutes a “better system” seems to change with the political winds.

5 Tom Meyer August 28, 2009 at 2:09 pm

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that health care reform shouldn’t fail just because Ted Kennedy happened to die.

I have absolutely no sympathy for this argument; if passing ObamaCare is so important, Kennedy could have resigned months ago and we’d have a new democratic in office now.

6 Dan Miller August 28, 2009 at 3:52 pm

What about a Senator who happens to be struck by a bus? It’s frankly ridiculous that a death, anticipated or not, should alter the course of legislation (and to be clear, I’d be just as opposed to Dave Freudenthal appointing a Democrat to replace Mike Enzi in Wyoming). Representation should be determined by voters, even if their choice happens to die during his or her six-year term.

7 Jaybird August 28, 2009 at 8:04 pm

(said with Boston accent) “Er, ah. She told me she could, ah, hold her breath for, ah, 3 days.”

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