Posted on 12/14/2002 6:16:46 AM PST by Credo
§ 23-15-855. Elections to fill vacancies in office of U.S. Senator; interim appointments by Governor.(1) If a vacancy shall occur in the office of United States Senator from Mississippi by death, resignation or otherwise, the Governor shall, within ten (10) days after receiving official notice of such vacancy, issue his proclamation for an election to be held in the state to elect a Senator to fill such unexpired term as may remain, provided the unexpired term is more than twelve (12) months and the election shall be held within ninety (90) days from the time the proclamation is issued and the returns of such election shall be certified to the Governor in the manner set out above for regular elections, unless the vacancy shall occur in a year that there shall be held a general state or congressional election, in which event the Governor's proclamation shall designate the general election day as the time for electing a Senator, and the vacancy shall be filled by appointment as hereinafter provided.
(2) In case of a vacancy in the office of United States Senator, the Governor may appoint a Senator to fill such vacancy temporarily, and if the United States Senate be in session at the time the vacancy occurs the Governor shall appoint a Senator within ten (10) days after receiving official notice thereof, and the Senator so appointed shall serve until his successor is elected and commissioned as provided for in subsection (1) of this section, provided that such unexpired term as he may be appointed to fill shall be for a longer time than one (1) year, but if for a shorter time than one (1) year he shall serve for the full time of the unexpired term and no special election shall be called by the Governor but his successor shall be elected at the regular election.
I dunno.. Newtie and Bob Livingston decided to quit rather than be shamed.
Their resignations weren't about being shamed. In both cases, they resigned because they realized that they were a PR liability for the party. They bowed out as the honorable thing, not out of shame.
And not out of spite and "if I go down, so does everyone else" as seems to be the motivation behind Lott's threat.
Additionally, Livingston resigned in order the shame the Democrats, showing them that there *are* still people who will do the right thing and step down if they have done something to cause people to lose trust in them. He resigned in response to Democrats disingenuously saying, "if you think Clinton should resign for his improprieties, then why don't *you* resign for having your affair exposed?" They never thought he'd actually *do* it, they were just engaging in cynical rhetoric. So when he actually called their bluff, there were audible gasps from them -- they realized he had demonstrated that he actually *did* have pricinples he believed in enough to act on them. He was also trying to shame Clinton into doing likewise, but he didn't count on the fact that Clinton is absolutely shameless.
'Nuff said.
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