8/27: Replacing Ted

Political bloggers are buzzing about Peter Roff's suggestion that ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R) may run for the late Edward Kennedy's (D) vacant Senate seat. Liberal bloggers find this prospect exceedingly unlikely, since Romney was unpopular when he left office and he has since moved considerably to the right of MA's political center. Among conservative bloggers, some like the idea of Romney running for Senate, while others believe that he has little to gain from such a move. Meanwhile, the netroots are urging the MA legislature to give Gov. Deval Patrick (D) the authority to appoint a temporary successor to Kennedy's Senate seat, since they believe that Dems can't afford to lose another vote for health care reform.

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• Liberal bloggers (Lange, Houle, digby, Lux, Klein, publius, watertiger, Serwer, Kuttner) continue to pay tribute to Kennedy. Many conservative bloggers (McCain, RS Insider, Reynolds, McLaughlin) are criticizing the late senator, although others (Mirengoff, Hanson) are being more magnanimous. Meanwhile, liberal bloggers (Scher, Cesca, McCarter) are arguing that the best way to memorialize Kennedy is to pass universal health care, while conservative bloggers (Liebau, Goldberg, Malkin, Allahpundit, Perrin, Hawkins) are accusing Dems of politicizing Kennedy's death.
• Liberal bloggers (Yglesias, Bowers, Benen, digby, Sudbay) are furious that Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) -- one of the six senators trying to negotiate a bipartisan compromise on health care reform -- assured conservatives that his participation in the negotiations has helped delay reform. Meanwhile, other lefty bloggers (McCarter, Singer, Black, Attaturk) are promoting a new AARP poll which found that 79% of Americans support the creation of "a new federal health insurance plan."
• Liberal bloggers (Yglesias, Benen, Marshall, Willis) are buzzing about the fact that Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) told supporters that the GOP is struggling to find its "great white hope."
• Several conservative bloggers (Malkin, Hawkins) are joining SC LG Andre Bauer (R) in calling on SC Gov. Mark Sanford (R) to resign.
• Conservative blogger Erick Erickson is pushing the rumor that CIA dir. Leon Panetta's resignation is imminent. However, other bloggers on the right and left are dubious.

Finally, please check back later today for our interview with David Dayen!

MA SEN: From Ted To Mitt?

Liberal bloggers doubt that Romney will run for Kennedy's vacant Senate seat:

• FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver: "Romney served one term as governor of Massachusetts and was not popular at the time he left office. [...] Plus, there's the question of how Romney would position himself. Is he going to revert back to being pro-choice, and pro-civil unions again? He probably can't win the Senate seat unless he does. But he probably can't win the Republican Presidential primary unless he doesn't -- particularly on the abortion issue. [...] Speculation aside, Mitt Romney is probably smart enough to know this (whatever else you might say about him, Romney's not lacking for brainpower). Romney has a pretty good brand and probably 75 percent-plus name recognition among likely voters. And last I checked, you don't have to be popular in Massachusetts to become elected President. Running for the Senate seat is virtually a pure downside play for him."
• The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen: "Romney ran for governor in Massachusetts as a center-left, pro-choice, tolerant New England Republican. He left office after just one term as a conservative with an approval rating in the 30s. Which version of Romney would run for Kennedy's seat? He couldn't run to the right; he'd lose. He couldn't run to the left; it would ruin his presidential ambitions. Second, Roff may have missed it, but while President Obama's approval ratings aren't as strong as they were, he maintains a 73% approval rating in Massachusetts. It doesn't look as if the Bay State would be anxious to replace Ted Kennedy with a harsh, reflexive opponent of the White House. And third, by all appearances, Mitt Romney isn't actually a resident of Massachusetts."
• MyDD's Jonathan Singer: "I'm sure there are more numbers on Romney out of Massachusetts, but this smattering of polling culled from some quick googling is likely not unrepresentative of the general dislike Massachusetts voters hold towards Romney. He's really the person the GOP would want to run to replace Kennedy?"

On the right side of the blogosphere, NRO's Lisa Schiffren likes the idea of Romney running for Senate: "As Peter Roff at U.S. News suggests, should Romney run for and win that seat, he would actually be in a position to make a real difference in the health-care debate. Needless to say, proving himself effective in that role -- and why wouldn't he? -- would put him in a far better position to run for president in 2012. [...] Romney could be a serious leader of a renewed opposition. Then...the sky's the limit."

Hot Air's Allahpundit disagrees: "[T]here's more to lose in doing this than there is to gain. If he wins, he ends up stuck in the minority with the rest of the GOP with no way to pass legislation unless he compromises with the Democrats -- not something a guy who's already suspected of RINOism is wont to do. If he loses, it proves he's a paper tiger who can't even carry the moderate states to which he's supposed to appeal as a potential Republican nominee. Running and winning would lend him some extra gravitas and name recognition, which he'll desperately need in a primary against [ex-AK Gov. Sarah] Palin and media darling [ex-AR Gov. Mike] Huckabee. But even so...seems like a longshot with the potential for catastrophe."

MA SEN II: Succession Matters

Liberal bloggers want Gov. Patrick to appoint a temporary successor to Kennedy's Senate seat as quickly as possible so that Dems have another vote for health care reform:

• Open Left's Chris Bowers: "Whatever the current legal hurdles and unfortunate timing of this process, the ethics of the situation seem pretty straightforward. There is a moral imperative to provide health care coverage to all Americans, just as there is a moral imperative to provide equal representation to all Americans. Those values outweigh any process arguments we can expect to hear coming from the Republican Noise Machine as this effort moves forward."
• Open Left's Adam Bink: "I do not think Ted would want us to miss having his vote on a strong health care bill- or, for that manner, a number of other important issues coming up, including immigration. I think that's why he asked the Massachusetts legislators to change the succession law. And that law is a problem for getting health care done, as may be a fair number of people I have heard wish to take his seat with regard to other issues. So I don't think we should hesitate, if it becomes necessary, to put pressure on the Massachusetts legislature, or support the most progressive candidate we can find who is willing to run for Sen. Kennedy's seat. He was known as the liberal lion, and it I think it would be a disservice to his legacy to replace the great progressive icon with someone who will not continue that legacy."

Meanwhile, Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher speculates about what will happen if the MA state legislature fails to give Patrick the authority to appoint an interim senator: "[I]f the legislature does not for some reason pass such a waiver, there won't be 60 Democratic votes in the Senate until after a special election. Which means the Republicans could filibuster any health care bill. So passage through the Senate would mean: (1.) Waiting 145-160 days (2.) Getting [ME Sen.] Olympia Snowe on board with something (Stimulus II, Electric Boogaloo) (3.) Reconciliation. Of the three, I'd say the most likely is #2 for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that there still aren't 50 members of the Senate who will support the public option in Kennedy's HELP bill, and polling indicates that the country doesn't believe the Democrats should pass a health care bill without any Republicans on board. The White House has proven itself to be historically sensitive to those optics far more than they have worried about losing the base, and I don't see any reason why that should stop now. I would lay odds this will happen regardless of what the Massachusetts legislature does. So I'd say going forward, we're likely to get a bill out of the Senate that's quite a bit weaker than Kennedy's HELP committee bill for the sake of getting Republicans on board."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The Price Of Seniority

Think Progress' Matthew Yglesias:

"Timothy Noah opens his Ted Kennedy profile on this note: 'Talk about inauspicious beginnings. At the tender age of 30, the youngest sibling of President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy seemed pathetically unqualified to enter the U.S. Senate.'

The point is to highlight the irony that Ted went on to become the greatest of the Kennedy brothers. But it's worth being clear about the fact that he had such an impressive career in part precisely because he initially got a job he wasn't qualified for. The Senate operates largely on the basis of seniority. A guy who can enter his fifth term and only be 54 years old is a guy who's going to be able to wield some major influence for a long time. And yet Massachusetts must have had many better-qualified potential senators who, had they gotten the gig, never would have acquired Kennedy's legacy not just because they would have lacked Kennedy's skills but because they would have been too young.

This winds up having some odd systematic effects. It's nice, for example, to see a veteran progressive legislator like [VT Sen.] Bernie Sanders get a 'promotion' up the Senate. But the man's 67 years old, so he's never going to amass tons of seniority and we're never going to hear about 'powerful Energy Committee Chairman Bernard Sanders of Vermont.' And yet Vermont is a reliably liberal state. If some other, equally progressive but much-less-qualified man had won that Senate seat instead, the cause of progressive politics might have been much better served in the long run. In large part, I think this is just one of several reasons why both houses of congress ought to reduce the significance of seniority (and also of committee chairmen) but given the system we have in place it's something savvy political activists should keep in mind. When you're looking at a fairly safe seat, it's very good to find a young candidate."

LEST WE FORGET: Market Evidently Capable Of Supporting More Than One Reality Show About Cake

From The Onion:

"CHICAGO -- Though the stock market remains shaky and consumer spending has reached a standstill, the U.S. economy is apparently still robust enough to produce nearly half a dozen television shows about cake. 'This flies in the face of basic economic theory,' University of Chicago economist John Holloway said Friday, referring to such programs as Ace Of Cakes, Cake Boss, and Last Cake Standing. 'Despite the worst recession in a generation, these shows somehow make enough money to pay for sets, celebrity hosts, producers, camera crews -- not to mention the cakes themselves -- all so people can see a dessert that looks like a Dr. Seuss character.' Holloway made it clear, however, that no known mathematical model has yet been able to explain why in the hell anyone would watch those Real Housewives Of Whatever shows."