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Kennedy ally Paul Kirk wins Massachusetts Senate appointment
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Former Democratic Party chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. speaks as Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., listens during a news conference at the Statehouse in Boston Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009
Kennedy confidant Paul G. Kirk Jr. was named yesterday as the state’s new interim senator, throwing himself immediately into the job by asking former staff members of Edward M. Kennedy to stay on, delivering his first speech in the role to a group of labor activists, and preparing to travel to Washington this morning to be sworn in.
In a poignant coda to Kennedy’s 47-year Senate career, Governor Deval Patrick named Kirk, a longtime Kennedy family friend and adviser, to the seat for the next four months, allowing him to deliver potentially key votes on health care and reopen Kennedy’s office for business. One of his first stops in Washington will be Arlington National Cemetery, where he will visit the gravesite of his friend, predecessor, and former boss.
“There’s an emotion, just after the lifetime of friendship I’ve had, and the trust and confidence I enjoyed,’’ Kirk said in a 30-minute interview yesterday. “Then to be asked to do this as the immediate interim successor - it’s just pretty heavy stuff, you know?’’
Kirk’s appointment caps an extraordinary few weeks in Massachusetts politics, as the state, still absorbing the death of its longest-serving senator, wrestled with how to keep full representation and preserve voters’ right to choose their leaders.
Many saw it as a fitting new role for Kirk, whose presence in the Senate will extend, in a way, Kennedy’s legislative legacy.
Yesterday’s announcement spawned a range of reactions, from exuberance from President Obama and Washington Democrats to outright condemnation from Republicans, who see the appointment - and the new power the Legislature gave Patrick to make it - as a political power play. The choice of Kirk also irked some Democrats who were hoping to see former governor Michael S. Dukakis get the nod.
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