Banana Republic

In 2004, the MA legislature changed the law that had previously allowed the governor to appoint an interim senator because they were worried that Mitt Romney would appoint a Republican if John Kerry won.  Thankfully, John Kerry didn't win, but his run for President is still causing trouble five years later.

The MA legislature's law allows for a special election between 145-160 days after the resignation/death of a Senator. There is no provision for an interim Senator because the legislature was worried Romney would have appointed a Republican. Now the Democrats have decided that laws are to be changed depending on who will best benefit from them. If the Republicans are going to benefit, they change the law. If they want to benefit, they'll make sure they do. Like most acts of the MA legislature, this sets a horrible precedent; why have rules and laws on what to do in certain situations when the legislature can just decide to change the law because it will advantage the majority.

The Democrats do this under the guise of "needing full representation". Garbage. When Kerry ran for President in 2004, he missed almost every vote. From the time Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with cancer to his death, he missed almost every vote. If the Democrats were serious about this, they could have convinced Kennedy to resign upon his diagnosis, and they almost certainly would have won a special election that would have been held over a year ago. MA needs two Senators because of Obama's "historical change agenda?" Garbage.

Acts like this make it clear that Massachusetts needs a second political party. Even though I'd like it to be a conservative party, even if it were the Green Party or the Libertarian Party or any other group that became viable, the majority party would be held in check. If there is a substantial opposition, the Democrats would be more likely to play by rules that they would want used if the Democrats were a minority party. Right now, that's impossible, and they can change the laws at their whim.

When a US Representative resigns or dies, they hold a special election. One vote in the Senate isn't much more important, even if there are one-fourth the Senators as Representatives. Hopefully the MA legislature shows some ethics that aren't in the mold of Wilkerson or DiMasi and leaves the law the way it is. But we know they won't.