Filling Senate Vacancies

[snuffbox 0]

Wisconsin's junior senator says he wants to amend the U.S. Constitution to stop governors from making appointments to vacant Senate seats.

 

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, chairman of the Senate Constitution subcommittee, said Sunday he would introduce such an amendment and require Senate vacancies to be filled through election only.

 

"The fact that the people of four states, comprising over 12 percent of the entire population of the country, will be represented for the next two years by someone they did not elect is contrary to the purpose of the 17th Amendment, which provides for the direct election of Senators," Feingold wrote in a blog post today at Daily Kos.

 

http://www.madison.com/wsj/mad/latest/434815

 

I like this idea. As a political junkie, anything that extends the campaign season is fine by me (and this is especially welcome, because vacancies would allow for a breif rest in between re-hitting the trail). The cartoons playing out of NY and IL should provide Feingold with some ammunition for this idea.

[SuperJerk 0]

I agree.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I completely agree. The more direct democracy, the better.

[Nightwing 0]

So would you run the election concurrently, or would it be an abbreviated election cycle (Like a month or so)?

[Maztinho 0]

So would you run the election concurrently, or would it be an abbreviated election cycle (Like a month or so)?

 

You would think an abbreviated cycle. This would only happen every once and awhile, I don't see why they shouldn't do this. Or rather why it wasn't in place before.

[Nightwing 0]

So would you run the election concurrently, or would it be an abbreviated election cycle (Like a month or so)?

 

You would think an abbreviated cycle. This would only happen every once and awhile, I don't see why they shouldn't do this. Or rather why it wasn't in place before.

 

I was just wondering. I mean, we do do run-off elections, but this is a bit different in terms of campaigning and such. Not that a shortened campaign season wouldn't be welcomed...

[snuffbox 0]

Heh, do do.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Heh, do do.

 

Filbert: Citizens of Conglomo, repeat after me: Wee-Wee!

 

Workers: Wee-Wee!

 

Heffer: SAY IT AGAIN!

 

Workers: Wee-Wee! Wee-Wee! Wee-Wee! etc.

[Boon 0]

This seems as good a place as any for this:

GOP Senator Is Top Pick for Commerce

 

By SIOBHAN GORMAN and JONATHAN WEISMAN

 

WASHINGTON -- Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire has emerged as President Barack Obama's top choice for commerce secretary, with an announcement coming as soon as Monday, an Obama administration official and lawmakers said Sunday.

 

The expected move won backing from key Republican leaders, smoothing the way for the longtime fiscal conservative to take the post, if offered.

 

Some Republican leaders had urged Sen. Gregg not to take the job because of concerns that his departure could tip the balance of power in the Senate in favor of Democrats. Democrats and Democrat-friendly independents currently control 58 seats in the Senate, two short of the filibuster-proof majority they need to prevent Republicans from blocking measures.

 

If Sen. Gregg is appointed as commerce secretary, New Hampshire's Democratic governor could appoint a Democrat to take his seat. The Democrats hope to gain another Senate seat when the Minnesota race is settled; Democrat Al Franken currently leads in that race.

 

Republicans on Sunday suggested that their concerns over Sen. Gregg's seat had been worked out. "Sen. Gregg has told me that if he were to take this appointment, it would not alter the makeup of the Senate in terms of the majority and the minority," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said on CBS News's "Face the Nation." He didn't elaborate.

 

An administration official, trying to tamp down talk that a deal was being hatched, said, "The president will choose the best person for the job, and if it's Sen. Gregg, Gov. [John] Lynch will have sole responsibility in choosing his replacement."

 

Colin Manning, spokesman for Gov. Lynch, declined to say whether the governor had struck a deal to appoint a Republican. "This is something that is between [the White House and Sen. Gregg] at this point," he said.

 

Sen. Gregg, if appointed, would become the third Republican in Mr. Obama's cabinet. As the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, he helped shepherd last year's $700 billion financial-rescue package to final approval. He has been a proponent of reforming Social Security and controlling federal spending. He is also the top Republican on the panel that oversees State Department spending.

 

A spokeswoman for Sen. Gregg didn't respond to requests for comment Sunday.

 

Speculation is already under way over whom Gov. Lynch might pick to finish out Sen. Gregg's term. Many New Hampshire political insiders expect Gov. Lynch, a centrist who named a Republican to serve as his attorney general, to pick a moderate Republican, but one who isn't expected to run for re-election in 2010.

 

Among the Republican names in circulation are former Reagan and George H.W. Bush administration official J. Bonnie Newman, who supported Gov. Lynch's campaign for governor and served as a chief of staff to Sen. Gregg; former Republican Gov. Walter Peterson, a moderate who also backed Gov. Lynch; former Concord Mayor Liz Hager, who endorsed Gov. Lynch and Mr. Obama; and former Republican state House Speaker Doug Scamman, a Lynch ally.

 

Potential Democratic candidates include the two U.S. House representatives from the state, Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter.

 

Democratic officials familiar with the selection process said White House officials aren't involved in any of the potential horse-trading around Sen. Gregg's seat, and that they considered this an issue between the Senate and Gov. Lynch.

 

Mr. Obama's first pick for commerce secretary, Democratic New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, stepped aside in January over concerns that a grand jury investigation into how state contracts were issued to political donors in New Mexico could embroil the governor's office. The governor has denied any wrongdoing.

That would be 60 for the Senate if Lynch appoints a Democrat. It's amazing to me how fast the Republican party in NH has evaporated.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Lynch is appointing a Republican.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Good for Feingold. Anything that ends at least some cronyism on the state and national level is definitely a good thing. With this Blagoivich (sp? Oh, who cares?) fiasco, maybe it has a chance to pass, too.

[SuperJerk 0]

Will the President go for six Senate appointments?

 

We still got an HHS cabinet spot to fill.