There have been four Senate appointments by governors in recent weeks, Democratic senators chosen by Democratic governors, and all in their own way have had different degrees of controversy.

The one that ruffled the fewest feathers was the one no one had heard of: Michael Bennet, in Colorado, to replace Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Bennet was the superintendent of schools in Denver and a former aide to Mayor John Hickenlooper, never having run for public office before. Whatever you think of Bennet, Gov. Bill Ritter made the choice without making all the hopefuls — and there were many — humiliate themselves. Bennet will still have to prove himself in next year's election, but by all accounts he is an extremely bright guy, Colorado has been trending Democratic, and the GOP bench is weak. Compare that with ...

... Delaware, where outgoing Gov. Ruth Ann Minner chose Ted Kaufman to replace Vice President Joe Biden. The choice of Kaufman, a longtime Biden aide, was a clear statement that he will be nothing more than a placeholder for Beau Biden, the VP's son, who is the state attorney general and who is currently serving with the National Guard in Iraq. Biden comes home later this year, just in time (!) to begin a campaign for the seat in 2010 (when Kaufman said he would step down instead of run in the special election). Minner could have chosen Lt. Gov. John Carney to fill the Senate seat, but the fix for Biden fils was in. Kaufman would keep it warm for young Beau, while Carney wouldn't play. Compare that with ...

... Illinois, where Rod Blagojevich (D-Fantasy Island) chose Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama even after the governor was arrested and charged with trying to sell the seat to the highest bidder. And compare that with ...

... New York, where Gov. David Paterson had a slew of Democrats jumping through hoops, a humiliating and inelegant process that tarnished Caroline Kennedy, infuriated others, and elevated Kirsten Gillibrand to the Senate.

You get the point. It's not always a clean and orderly process.

Sen. Russ Feingold has a solution. The Wisconsin Democrat plans to offer a constitutional amendment that would require a special election to fill any Senate vacancy, as is the process in the House. He is chairman of the Senate Constitution Subcommittee and said he will offer the amendment before the week is up; he hopes to hold hearings on it shortly. Feingold posted a blog post at Daily Kos on it.

Feingold was also today's guest in the Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation.

Tags: Washington Senators