doubleplusundead

May 20, 2008

ted kennedy diagnosed with malignant brain tumor

Obviously this is pretty serious.

The question I have to ask is, what does Massachusetts do? Does Ted end up being absent long term like Tim Johnson? What if they want Ted to step down, and he won't or can't? Do they recall him? I'm curious to see what the procedure would be for those scenarios.

I'll also be interested in seeing what the political fallout is. Ted is obviously a leader on the Democrat side in Congress, and a powerful force on the left. It will be interesting to see if his absence has any effect on the left's ability to organize and make legislation happen in Congress, moreso in the longterm.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 01:20 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 I doubt the absence will have much of an impact. Others such as Schumer, Durbin, and Boxer have a lot of sway now as well.

Posted by: eddiebear at May 20, 2008 01:23 PM (wnU1W)

2 Yeah, Schumer and Durbin probably pick up the slack. But I keep in mind things like NCLB and McCain-Kennedy, Ted's got his name on a lot of legislation.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at May 20, 2008 01:26 PM (ZuzXA)

3 It will also be interesting to see if this weakens the Kennedy families' lock on Massachusetts politics.

Posted by: geoff at May 20, 2008 02:05 PM (J5KnJ)

4 That's a good question too. Ted was clearly the central figure of the Kennedy clan.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at May 20, 2008 02:07 PM (ZuzXA)

This is one of those rare times when I actually wish I had a blog. My headline would have read "Brain Tumor diagnosed with malignant Ted Kennedy". After that, the 'news story' pretty much writes itself.

Bad taste? Yeah, but it's just a spoof story, not ill wishes. Anyway, the Dems could hardly be more discombobulated than they are already. I'm sure there's a lot of behind the scenes power-grabbing going on today.

Posted by: Hermit Dave at May 20, 2008 06:55 PM (Tk5HT)

6 How much does a Senator actually do?
New York and Illinois seem to be getting along just fine without their Dem Senators for the last two years.

Posted by: bmac at May 20, 2008 08:05 PM (oRVu1)

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