Kirk to Succeed Kennedy in U.S. Senate

by Seth Michaels, Sep 24, 2009

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick today named Paul Kirk to serve as interim U.S. senator, filling the open seat left by the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Republicans have gone to court to try and block the governor's emergency order to seat Kirk. The GOP believes Kirk must wait 90 days before he can be seated. These tactics are reminiscent of the unsuccessful attempts of the GOP to prevent Al Franken from being seated.

Kirk, who served as an adviser to Sen. Kennedy as well as a chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is expected to be sworn in tomorrow afternoon.

He will serve until a permanent replacement is elected in a special election, set for Jan. 19. The state legislature approved a bill allowing for the appointment of an interim senator this week, ensuring that Massachusetts will have its full congressional delegation during these critical months.


Thanks are due to Robert Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, and union members across the state who have been actively advocating for their fair representation in the U.S. Senate. Kirk’s first public appearance after being named to fill the Senate seat was at today’s state AFL-CIO convention.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka praised the “decisive action” of the state legislature and the working people across the state who mobilized to ensure that Kennedy’s wishes for a speedy replacement would be met:

Never before has it been more important for our elected representatives to be vocal warriors for working family issues and with Paul Kirk’s appointment, working people get another ardent supporter. Paul Kirk has enormous shoes to fill as the replacement to Sen. Kennedy but working people in Massachusetts and across the country are confident that he will live up to Sen. Kennedy’s legacy.

The appointment couldn’t come at a more critical time—as Washington soldiers on to create health care reform and fight against big business and the insurance industry who are so opposed to change.

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Senator Kennedy, Vicki & Bo

FRI, AUGUST 28, 10:55 AM EST

Posted by Jesse Lee

For those who have worked on Capitol Hill it was almost a perk of the job to occasionally see Senator Kennedy walking the Portuguese Water Dogs he loved so much. And for a man who left almost as sweeping a legacy as one can imagine, the presence of Bo here at the White House might be a footnote, but it's a special footnote tied to one of the Senator's great joys in life.

USA Today's pet blog ran a short piece on this on Wednesday:
Politics aside, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy will be remembered by many for his contributions to the nation and also for his love for his dogs Sunny and Splash, Portuguese Water Dogs.

He told Harry Smith of CBS in a 2006 interview: "Splash is a part of our family, but he's part of the senate family as well. He comes to work with me every day with his little niece Sunny and members of the senate dome. He's not allowed to go on the senate floor.

He's troubled by that... because he thinks, he says that they won't let him on because people will say that they don't think he knows how to behave. But actually, he says that he behaves a lot better than most senators."

He gave President Obama his puppy, a Portuguese Water Dog, named Bo.

Kennedy wrote a children's book My Senator and Me in Sunny's voice. One of his greatest joys was sailing with his wife Vicki and the dogs on his sloop Mya.

Indeed, Bo came from the same lineage as Senator Kennedy’s dogs. Here’s a (rare) photo of the Senator and his wife, Vicki, greeting Bo in the White House:



Source: White House blog

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