The American Spectator

The Spectacle Blog

The five Republicans in the Massachusetts state senate have delayed legislation that would give the governor power to appoint an interim senator to replace the late Ted Kennedy. The power was originally stripped from the governor to keep Mitt Romney from appointing an interim replacement for John Kerry in the event that the Democrats won the 2004 presidential election. The minority power has limited delaying tacticis, however. One of the five GOP state senators, Scott Brown, is the likely Republican nominee in the special election to fill the seat for the remainder of Kennedy's term. Kennedy was re-elected in 2006.