With John Kerry’s nomination to become Secretary of Defense, we’ve returned to silly season, chock full of ridiculous speculation about who will run to fill Kerry’s Senate seat.
Ben Affleck? (Good for TMZ, but Massachusetts?) Joe Kennedy III? (I head that one on WGBH yesterday!) Setti Warren? (Not happening.)
But the notion that Gov. Deval Patrick could turn to Newton’s Barney Frank as an interim appointment isn’t silly at all. And if you want someone who knows the issues, knows the city, won’t be shy about speaking up for us and could get a staff in place on day one, it certainly makes more sense than Vicky Kennedy or Mike Dukakis.
Plus it will annoy Joe Battenfeld!
Barney Frank would make an outstanding interim U.S. Senator and would be there just as the Senate begins dealing with the wreckage from the on-going fiscal, tax and program cut stalemates left over from the 112th Congress. I think this appointment would be Harry Reid’s delight and Mitch McConell’s nightmare.
I doubt he would adhere to the old Senate tradition where newcomers remain quiet for their entire first six year term, let alone for the precious few months he would be a US Senator.
His unmatched capacity to clearly organize and convincingly articulate progressive priorities is just what the Democrats need to stay focused and on course. Go Barney.
Great idea!
I like it. The Senate needs more left-handed, gay Jews.
As Democrats have only had about six months to think about this, how about appointing the person who can beat Scott Brown?
@Bill: We need an interim Senator who can focus on being our Senator, not spending all of his or her time raising money and campaigning in Massachusetts.
Greg: What do you think Scott Brown has been doing for the last two years?
Remind me, how did that work out for him?
He is currently sitting on a lot of cash, is considered the shoo-in Republican nominee and is deemed the favorite in a shortened cycle after losing in a general election. In other words, all things considered, it worked out pretty well for him.
…and lost his best chance at a six-year term and now has to run again. And if he wins this time will have to run again in less than two years. (And by the way if he loses this time or next time, his political career is toast…he’d be the guy who can’t hold onto a job.)
None of this speaks to your original point which, I believe, suggested that the interim Senate candidate should also be the Democratic candidate to run, presumably, against Brown, in a special. Still a bad idea. Bad for the people of Massachusetts and not necessarily a better path to victory for the candidate either.
Governor Patrick has already said he plans to do the same thing he did when Ted Kennedy’s seat became available, which is to appoint someone who will not subsequently run for election. That aside, I agree with Bill, because frankly I don’t see any Democrat right now, [with the exception of Barney Frank], who could even give Scott Brown a run for his money. That’s troubling!
My money is on Ted Kennedy, Jr.
Dear Village14 readers,
My name is Tom Sheff (Kennedy), I am pleased to announce my candidacy for the open Senate seat that will soon be vacated by John Kerry. I hope to bring forward thinking and bipartisanship to the US Senate, while maintaining fiscal responsibility. In these difficult times, we need independent thinking and bipartisanship to end the fiscal cliff. For more information: please call Tom Sheff (Kennedy) at 617-VOT-ETOM.
….NOT!
Barney is my worst nightmare. I thought we were rid of him.
@ Mike,
Not too long ago, people had very similar sentiments about Brown’s strength and the relative weakness of the Democratic field. Now, is it likely that we’ll see another strong, dynamic candidate like Elizabeth Warren jump into the fray? Who can say? What is — or should be — certain is that Scott Brown went to Washington based on a set of very specific circumstances, circumstances which are unlikely to repeat themselves in the upcoming few months.
Massachusetts Democrats are fired up about protecting the seat being vacated by Senator Kerry (er, Greg — Secretary of what, now?), and the country is NOT in the grip of a strong, right-leaning wave like the Tea Party surge in 2010. This will be a spirited race, but I think Democrats will celebrate another resounding victory and send another very capable leader to the Senate in a few short months.
@Paul– Good points. I hope you’re right. Got any specific potential Dem candidates in mind?
The names that I’ve heard so far are pretty exciting – Markey, Capuano, Lynch, and even Ben Downing, the State Senator from Western MA. I wouldn’t be surprised if other people jumped into the fray – Alan Khazei, Peter Koutoujian, Kim Driscoll – or if someone jumped in that we’ve never heard of or considered closely. Should be exciting to watch!
@Paul– I was actually hoping you’d name someone who could beat Scott Brown. I think you’re overestimating these candidates, and underestimating Brown. Capuano is a very good congressman, but there’s a reason he didn’t run against Brown last time. He didn’t think he could win. And seriously, you think a retread candidate like Khazei [who has lost two primaries and couldn’t even beat Martha Coakley] would be a strong Democratic candidate? The others have no name recognition, and limited fund raising capabilities. This is exactly why I’m so worried about losing Kerry’s seat to Brown.
Correcting myself, because I remember that Capuano did run in this last senate election. [The fact that I forgot, likely says something about his candidacy]. If I recall correctly it was the Special Election to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat that Capuano declined to run in.
Markey just declared!!!!
Congressman Markey just announced his candidacy, and I think he has a real, legitimate shot. Please don’t forget that Scott Brown was once a candidate with limited name recognition and fundraising potential, who very suddenly became a force to be reckoned with. As I pointed out, he was able to ride a wave of particular circumstances to victory, and I think a similar wave is starting to swell for Democratic candidates.
A strong showing in the recent federal elections, an energized Democratic party in Massachusetts, and a growing distrust of and outrage against the Republican party for its role in the fiscal cliff crisis may help blunt any hope Brown has of returning to Washington.
Honestly, I would be very surprised if Brown runs. He is still recovering from professional and personal setbacks, and has a number of negatives still fresh in the minds of the electorate. A Brown candidacy so soon after his recent loss may serve to only mobilize a large percentage of the voters who helped remove him from office. If he is serious about running again, he may want to wait until the 2014 elections to run, when he has had time to recover and allow the memories of his negatives to fade.
In short, I really think this is the Dems’ seat to lose, and I don’t see them losing.
I hadn’t thought much about Ed Markey, but he gave a great presentation at the farewell for Barney Frank that the Democratic City Committee put on at the annual brunch in October. He’s got a solid record and I see he’s already showing stark differences between himself and the current Republican members of Congress who are going to get most of the blame for what is happening as we approach the so-called fiscal cliff. He simply can’t disassociate himself from this fiasco.
The Democrats will win this if they come together quickly after a candidate is nominated and recreate the voter identification and get out of the vote effort that proved so successful in November. This must be a rapid response all hands on deck effort, and it’s certainly doable.
I was very unimpressed with Scott Brown’s statewide organization. Unlike Newton where his supporters were positive for Brown, other volunteers spent their efforts attacking Warren. It wasn’t effective. While the Democrats had hundreds of thousands of their voters identified, monitored and poised to turnout, Scott Brown was relying on robo calls throughout the state. This is what candidates who have no coherent organization or volunteer base have to rely on and it most often simply is not effective. Brown is not going to be able to improve much on that in the short time before a special election. the Democrats have the easier task of galvanizing a voter identification and turnout structure that already exists.
I also like Mike Capuano. I think either Markey or Capuano can take the bred and butter Democratic issues to the voters.