Redstate

Posted at 1:51am on May 24, 2008 Chutzpah

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Now that it has been confirmed that Senator Edward Kennedy has a brain tumor likely to be fatal, attention has slowly begun to shift from the shock and sadness that diagnosis has elicited from both sides of the partisan divide to the question of who might succeed Kennedy should he resign or pass away in office. And this story informs us that the attitude of Massachusetts Democrats on the issue is "Heads: We win. Tails: Republicans lose":

The leader of the Massachusetts House says he will support giving Gov. Deval Patrick the power to appoint an interim successor to U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy if that becomes necessary.

The Democratic-controlled Legislature stripped Republican Gov. Mitt Romney of that authority in 2004 because of fears he would name a Republican to replace U.S. Sen. John Kerry if he had been elected president.

Instead, state law now requires a special election for the seat no sooner than 145 days and no later than 160 days after the vacancy occurs.

But House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi said yesterday if Kennedy should step aside or have to be replaced because of his brain tumor diagnosis, he'd be in favor of a gubernatorial appointment.

"That was a good political reason (then)," DiMasi said of taking the power away from Romney. "It's a good political reason to change it back."

Must . . . try . . . to . . . comment. But . . . cannot . . . rendered . . . speechless . . . by . . . . DiMasi's . . . appalling . . . nerve.

Must . . . turn . . . over . . . microphone . . . . to . . . a . . . Massachusetts . . . Republican:

House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. of North Reading said it was "distasteful" for DiMasi to respond to questions about changing the way the state handles vacant Senate seats. But, he criticized Democrats for their 2004 move against Romney.

"They said at the time they took this away for important public policy reasons," Jones said. "It would make them all out to be liars."

(Via James Taranto.)

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