Bipartisan support for Kennedy's widow to assume seat (Vicki Reggie Kennedy)

Washington Examiner ^ | 8/30/09 | Susan Ferrechio

[Libloather]

Bipartisan support for Kennedy's widow to assume seat
By: Susan Ferrechio
Chief Congressional Correspondent
08/30/09 2:12 PM EDT

While Ted Kennedy's widow, Vicki Kennedy, has indicated she is not interested in assuming her husband's Senate seat, there is bipartisan support for her to take the job, if only temporarily.

The Massachusetts state legislature is getting ready to debate a bill that would give Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick the authority to appoint an interim senator to fill the seat until a special election is held and some are suggesting the 55-year-old lawyer would be perfect for the job.

"I think Vicki ought to be considered," said Orrin Hatch on CNN's "State of the Union."

Hatch called Vicki Kennedy " a very brilliant lawyer" and "solid individual."

Vicki Kennedy is credited with helping her husband end his self-destructive behavior years ago and she also helped run his Senate office in the final months of his life.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., a longtime friend of Ted Kennedy, said he would let Vicki Kennedy decide whether she is interested in the job, but he would back her if she wants it.

"Whatever Vicki wants to do, I'm in her corner," Dodd said.

[Libloather]

Victoria Reggie Kennedy

Victoria Reggie Kennedy is the President and co-founder of Common Sense about Kids and Guns, a non-profit, non-partisan organization created to address the serious crisis of gun deaths and injuries to children in the United States. Common Sense has joined with a diverse group of allies to raise public awareness about gun safety and the dangers of unsupervised access to guns by children.

Mrs. Kennedy is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, where she chairs the Board's Program and Strategic Planning Committee. She has served on the Board of Stop Handgun Violence in Boston, Massachusetts and has served as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Annual Day of National Concern about young People and Gun Violence.

Mrs. Kennedy has been a regular lecturer at the American University Washington Semester Program, highlighting the public policy issues surrounding gun violence prevention and encouraging college students to become involved on their communities. She has also participated in the First Monday Program sponsored by the Alliance for Justice and speaks and writes on the issue of gun violence prevention.

In addition to her work on gun violence prevention, Mrs. Kennedy is a member of the Board of Trustees and Secretary of the Maret School, an independent school in Washington, DC that educates children from Kindergarten through Grade 12.

She also works with organizations in both Massachusetts and the District of Columbia on other issues relating to women, children and families, including homelessness, economic opportunity, health care, education, domestic violence, and involvement in the political process.

Mrs. Kennedy received her undergraduate degree, a B.A. magna cum laude, from Newcomb College of Tulane University, in New Orleans, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and other honor societies and was involved in student government. She was graduated summa cum laude from the Tulane Law School in 1979, where she was an editor of the Tulane Law Review and was inducted in the Order of the Coif.

In May 1998, Mrs. Kennedy received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Suffolk University Law School in Boston for her service to her community.

http://www.kidsandguns.org/familyroom/bios.asp

[dfwgator]

So basically we’re no different than North Korea now.

[Clintonfatigued]

Word on the block is that if she accepts the appointment, it will only be as a seat-warmer and that she has no interest in seeking a full term.

[IrishCatholic]

Bite your tongue. Korean women are hot.

[madprof98]

Anybody remember when this country was a republic?

[SIDENET]

Who is next in the line of succession?

[FlingWingFlyer]

This isn’t satire?

[SIDENET]

Bite your tongue. Korean women are hot.

True!

[Maelstorm]

No way. Hell no!

[The FIGHTIN Illini]

Who invented this concept that the surviving spouse of a dead Congressman/Senator is qualified to occupy the deceased seat? Pillow talk is relevant qualification?

The Mass. law says hold a special election (as the dead Kennedy wanted in 2004), so just DO IT!

[A_Former_Democrat]

OMG c’mon people WAKE UP

Stop this madness

[omega4179]

or Libya

[Sparky1776]

“A catchall spending bill passed by Congress and signed by President Reagan last month contained a provision that, in effect, forbids the commission to change the rule or extend temporary waivers to it. It quickly emerged that Mr. Kennedy had pushed for passage of the measure and he conceded it was aimed squarely at Mr. Murdoch, who the Senator thought was making inroads toward having the rule changed. ‘Undemocratic Abuse’ of Rules”

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/07/us/kennedy-and-paper-battle-in-boston.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[Politicalmom]

Oh, goody. The text of the law: All Democrat governors shall appoint his most sycophantic leftist lackey to any seat which becomes vacant. Republican governors must wait six months for a special election to be called.

Sounds fair to me.

[3niner]

Didn’t we fight a war to get rid of hereditary rulers?

[FlingWingFlyer]

More proof that anyone with the ability to fog a mirror is qualified to be a Senator in the U.S. Senate.

[omega4179]

Quite right, Deval Patrick should name a minority to that seat in honor of Ted.

[angkor]

Is it possible for Massachusetts to be even more contemptible and pathetic than it already is to the rest of the nation?

Yes, I think it is.

[EGPWS]

Anything, just ANYTHING that will guarantee a DNC drone to put a “healthcare” vote in for obama so he can save us from a deficit via taxing the hell out of us for obamacare BEFORE obamacare is available just to make the #’s look good politically in real time for the administration.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

“So basically we’re no different than North Korea now.”

Precisely. Why bother having elections. What is wrong with Hatch? Why would the Republicans just roll over when the democrats stripped this power from Romney previously, which is why they now have to rearrange things to recapture that power? The proper response by Hatch should have been, “We have barely put Ted to rest. Now is not the time to start discussing his replacement. It would be disrespectful.” Period. Shut down the discussion. It’s a discussion you can’t win if you come out against Kennedy’s wife at this point. Make the democrats take the heat for making this political and trying to make points off of Kennedy’s death before he was even buried.