The spirit of Ted Kennedy could once again rule the Massachusetts Senate if some Democrats get their wish.
The
Boston Herald reports that top party members may try to push the late senator’s widow Vicki Kennedy into running in the special Senate election if Sen. John Kerry is tapped as President Barack Obama’s new Secretary of State.
The idea is that Mrs. Kennedy would be a powerful-enough name to go up against Scott Brown, the Republican junior senator whose term ends next week.
Democratic operative Jim Roosevelt told the Herald that while Kennedy has revealed to friends she doesn’t want to run, that could change with a call from Obama.
“I’m sure she would think long and hard about a request from the president of the United States,” Roosevelt said.
A top Massachusetts Democrat told the newspaper: “I think Brown is going to be tough to beat, and the president is the only one who could kind of fix this.’’
Vicki Kennedy’s name as a possible candidate became even more pronounced this week when Ted Kennedy Jr. and actor Ben Affleck both indicated they will not run should the Senate seat become available.
Ted Kennedy reportedly once expressed that he hoped that Vicki, a lawyer, would one day succeed him in office.
And there was speculation that when Kennedy died that Gov. Deval Patrick would appoint her to the seat until a special election was held. But she reportedly declined and Paul Kirk was appointed instead.
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