Now that the Massachusetts legislature has given him the power to do so, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) will announce his choice to succeed the late Sen. Edward Kennedy this morning at 11 a.m. ET -- and that person is likely to be Paul Kirk.

Kirk, the head of the JFK Library in Boston and a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is very close to the Kennedy family. Before his tenure at the DNC, Kirk served on Kennedy's Senate staff. Yesterday I wrote that both of Kennedy's sons -- Edward Jr. and Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island -- as well as his widow Vicki have been making phone calls urging Patrick to pick Kirk.

The Boston Globe's Viser & Phillips call Kirk the "overwhelming favorite."

But the Boston Herald's Van Sack & Chabot say that the choice of Kirk could raise "serious concerns":

[He] has deep ties to special interests, sitting on a board that oversees a health-insurance provider and having lobbied for the pharmaceutical industry, the Herald has learned.
"Obviously, this is a conflict of interest and raises serious concerns," Craig Holman of the non-partisan watchdog Public Citizen, said. ... "It is distressing. There were many qualified people."

Whoever Patrick selects will serve until the Jan. 19 special election. But the reason why Democrats have been so anxious to change the law and have an interim senator is clear: without Kennedy, Senate Dems have 59 votes -- one fewer than the filibuster-proof majority of 60 they would need to assure passage of health-care overhaul ... assuming that all Democrats (and the two independents) stick together, and assuming there's a bill to vote on. But that's another story.

categories: Washington Senators

9:31 - September 24, 2009

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