Downballot: Salazar's Senate seat
Posted: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 9:10 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Congress, Democrats, Republicans
COLORADO: Names being floated as potential replacements for Ken Salazar’s Senate seat: Salazar's brother, John, who is in Congress representing the state's 3rd District. Word is though, he is happy to be on the House Appropriations Committee and would rather stay there. Other leading names: Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and former Denver Mayor Federico Pena. Other possibilities include Rep. Diana DeGette (though some worry if she can win statewide) and House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, who may be tapped by Dem Gov. Bill Ritter to be the state's new secretary of state.
By the way, if conservatives bring a lawsuit about Hillary Clinton's constitutional fitness to serve as on the executive branch payroll after serving in Congress, the decision could affect Sen. Ken Salazar's appointment to a post at the Interior Department, too.
MINNESOTA: The Star Tribune: “With thousands of frivolous challenges discarded, the state Canvassing Board is expected to begin today the serious business of ruling on ballot disputes that could decide the U.S. Senate race between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and DFLer Al Franken. Prodded by the board, the campaigns have abandoned most of the challenges they've made during the recount, allowing the panel to focus on perhaps fewer than 1,500. At the heart of the matter is voter intent and how the five-member board will determine it by examining each remaining challenged ballot: Is a partially filled oval sufficient to cast a vote? How about an 'X' written near a candidate's name?”
More: “The Star Tribune has performed its own analysis of the challenged ballots by relying on a virtual "canvassing board" of more than 26,000 readers who examined at least some of them. There appeared to be widespread consensus that Franken won slightly more disputes than Coleman, enough to theoretically erase the incumbent's narrow lead by late Monday… The conclusion is consistent with an analysis done by the Associated Press, which showed that Franken netted enough votes from several thousand easily resolved disputes to erase Coleman's lead.”
NEW YORK: It’s a constituency of one, but apparently Caroline is winning over Paterson a day at a time. The New York Times: "Kennedy is now launching a public effort to demonstrate that she has both the ability and the stomach to perform the job, with plans to visit parts of the upstate region. The governor, who has expressed frustration with other elected officials for campaigning too openly, has done nothing to discourage her, said a person who has spoken with Ms. Kennedy. In addition, a person with direct knowledge of the conversations said that Ms. Kennedy and Mr. Paterson had spoken several times in recent days and that the governor had grown increasingly fond of her. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid antagonizing the governor, said that Mr. Paterson also had come to see Ms. Kennedy as a strong potential candidate whose appointment would keep a woman in the seat and whose personal connections would allow her to raise the roughly $70 million required to hold on to the seat in the coming years."
More: "Kennedy, who initially seemed taken aback by questions about whether she would be interested in the position, has grown increasingly excited about and focused on the opportunity in recent days, those who have talked to her said. She has moved aggressively into campaignlike mode, albeit with careful attention to political protocol. On Monday, she called dozens of political figures to let them know she was interested in the job. Besides Mr. Paterson and Christine C. Quinn, the New York City Council speaker, Ms. Kennedy called upstate officials like Representative Louise M. Slaughter and Byron Brown, the mayor of Buffalo; the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader; and Charles E. Schumer, New York’s senior senator.”
“(One name who may or may not have been on the list: Mrs. Clinton. Through spokesmen, Mrs. Clinton and Ms. Kennedy declined to say whether or not they had spoken. While Mrs. Clinton has said that she would leave the decision to Mr. Paterson, some officials close to her have publicly questioned Ms. Kennedy’s credentials for the job.) "
Kennedy’s hiring of a well-connected New York consulting firm is music to the ears of some NY Dems, who believed Kennedy was too worried about appealing to area codes 202 and 312 -- and not spending enough time on the phone dialing, 212, 917 or 518.
The Boston Globe: "For the 51-year-old Caroline -- born into fame, buffeted by tragedies -- living an unspectacular life must feel like a triumph. She has avoided all the pitfalls that snagged other celebrity children, including some of her cousins. She is arguably the most famous person in America to be living such a quiet, unseen existence without becoming a recluse… And there are far worse credentials for leadership than the ability to achieve balance amid chaos. But it's painful to think that she may be trading her hard-earned right to a normal life for a birthright that may not be as gratifying."
