It's definitely a blatantly political effort to keep the 60 votes to break a united GOP filibuster in play.
Considering that his deteriorating condition has been evident for some time, if Kennedy was truly all that worried about Massachusetts having only a single Senator, he should have resigned his seat some months ago, maybe even soon enough for a special election for the seat to be held in conjunction with the 2008 general election.
I would imagine he didn't exactly plan on dying. Some people actually hold out hope of living to fulfill their dreams someday.
Should've thought of that in 2004. You can't pick and choose who laws apply to. It's just not right.
So, once a law is passed, it's not right to ever repeal or modify it, ever again?
Incidentally, I support a constitutional amendment making this approach (used in Texas, of all places) mandatory for senate vacancies nation-wide. No unelected Senators serving for years on end, and no seats sitting empty for months.
Not for reasons of being politically expedient to the Democratic agenda. If they wanted a fair law, they would've made it when they decided to change the law. I'm not sure if this will even pass the legislature anyways though, what with Patrick's approval ratings and all.
