Paul Kirk appointed to US Senate
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Patrick Appoints Interim US Senator
Gov. Deval Patrick names Paul Kirk to fill Massachusetts' vacant US Senate seat until the special election in January.
Paul Kirk Jr. accepts the interim appointment to the U.S. Senate from Gov. Deval Patrick, who looks on during a Statehouse news conference on Sept. 24, 2009.
AP Political Writer
Published: September 24, 2009
Updated: September 24, 2009
Special Section: Sen. Edward Kennedy
BOSTON—Gov. Deval Patrick named former Democratic Party chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. to the late Edward Kennedy’s Senate seat Thursday and said the rushed, temporary appointment was necessary because the issues before Congress were “too important to Massachusetts for us to be one voice short.“
Kirk, a Kennedy family friend, served on the senator’s staff for eight years and is chairman of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. Kennedy’s widow, Vicki Kennedy, and son Edward Kennedy Jr. had urged Patrick to pick Kirk and attended the announcement at the Massachusetts Statehouse.
“He (Sen. Kennedy) often said that representing the people of Massachusetts in the Senate of the United States was the highest honor that he could possible imagine, and it is certainly nothing that I imagined, but it will be my highest honor, as well,“ said Kirk. He was immediately setting off with Patrick to shake hands at a western Massachusetts fair, and he will be sworn in Friday afternoon.
Patrick’s appointment means Kirk will serve in the interim post until voters pick a replacement in a Jan. 19 special election. Kirk said he would not be a candidate in the special election.
This week, lawmakers gave Patrick the appointment power, five years after taking that power away when Republican Mitt Romney was in office. The legislation did not take effect immediately, so Patrick had to sign an emergency letter Thursday to make the appointment right away.
The interim senator allows President Barack Obama to regain a critical 60th U.S. Senate vote to pass a health care overhaul.
“I am pleased that Massachusetts will have its full representation in the U.S. Senate in the coming months, as important issues such as health care, financial reform and energy will be debated,“ Obama said in a statement. “Paul Kirk is a distinguished leader, whose long collaboration with Senator Kennedy makes him an excellent, interim choice to carry on his work until the voters make their choice in January.“
Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, said Kirk’s “wisdom, kindness and integrity mean the world to the entire Kennedy family.“
Vicki Kennedy said after the appointment: “I certainly told (Patrick) of the high esteem with which the entire Kennedy family held Paul Kirk, but this was always the governor’s decision.“
Edward Kennedy Jr. said: “He knows my father, he knows my father’s staff, he knows the people of Massachusetts and, I think, you ask anyone, Democrat or Republican, and you’ll find out there’s no one more respected to do this job.“
U.S. Sen. John Kerry, who attended the announcement, choked up as he recalled his late colleague. He said Kirk already has a personal relationship with many of the people he will be working.
“Paul Kirk shares Ted’s love of the commonwealth and the country and shares his passion for public service,“ Kerry said, adding “he is going to hit the ground running.“
Kennedy died Aug. 25 after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. Kirk was master of ceremonies last month for a memorial service the evening before Kennedy’s funeral.
The 71-year-old is a Boston attorney who also has been a registered lobbyist for pharmaceutical companies. He said Thursday he would resign from his board positions, including at Hartford Financial Services, known colloquially as “The Hartford.“ It sells life and property insurance.
Federal records show Kirk registered as a lobbyist a decade ago. While Kirk would be banned from lobbying for two years after his appointment ends, he would retain Senate floor privileges, the honorific title “senator” and a coveted Capitol Hill parking space for life.
Kirk said that while he had represented “a couple of pharmaceutical firms” as recently as 2002, he no longer works as a lobbyist and has no conflicts of interest.
Kirk also has been helping with efforts to raise money for a Senate institute named for him. Organizers have been criticized for accepting donations from the health care industry while Kennedy and the White House pushed for an industry overhaul.
The senator-designate graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School and served on Kennedy’s staff between 1969 and 1977. He ran the Democratic National Committee in the run-up to former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis’ unsuccessful run for president in 1988.
Kirk also co-founded the Commission on Presidential Debates, which has sponsored every presidential and vice presidential debate involving major candidates since 1988.
The Massachusetts Legislature laid the groundwork Wednesday for the announcement, when, after a contentious debate and a whirl of parliamentary maneuvering, it approved a bill allowing the governor to make an interim appointment.
Some fellow Democrats have joined Republicans in accusing Patrick of a power grab, but the governor said he was unfazed by the criticism.
“I’m quite satisfied that I am both within the law and within tradition,“ he said.
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Reader Reactions
No comment Smitty?
Gee, Smitty, that Boston Herald article doesn’t sound like “her reaction” to me. Unless she reacted before the fact.
In the days after TeddyBoy’s death, it was widely reported that Vicki didn’t WANT his seat. Don’t give me that crap.
Boston Herald, September 23, 2009:
The passage comes as the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s widow Victoria Reggie Kennedy lobbies the governor to give the appointment to former Democratic National Committee chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr., a source close to the family tells the Herald.
I can’t see why people don’t read before they comment….. Vicky Kennedy was asked for her reaction—not for her choice. She said outright that it was Patrick’s decision.
And quite a few of the other comments are just as ludicrous. Get a grip people—a republican senate candidate has as much chance in Massachusetts of being elected as a snowball has of not melting in h*ll.
This is appalling. Can anyone explain to me why Kennedy’s WIDOW has a say in this at all???
“I’m quite satisfied that I am both within the law and within tradition,“ Patrick said.
Sure you are Governor, as long as the Dems get to rewrite the law to suit themselves!
I can’t wait to see who obama calls an idiot this time.
Bear, there is no such thing a a cebtrist democrat in the North East. Maybe in the south. If this guy was close to Kennedy he’s not a centrist. Heck we all thought Obama was a centrist according to NBC. How is that Hope and Change working for you?
As a recovering republican that tends to be a centrist, I applaud the selection of Kirk who has represented and can talk to both sides of current major issues. He will be a catalyst to bring together those in both the far right and far left.
Well MA you reap what you sew, good luck with federal funded health care it has to better than what you have!!
Pox on both sides republican and democrat!
This is just outrageous. They change the laws to suit thier own agenda with no regard for the voters. This entire country is going to he11 in a handbasket!
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