Sen. Kerry supports Markey bid for his MA senate seat

[MBS]

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/john-kerry-praises-rep-markeys-senate-bid?ref=fpb

"While I began last week to formally step out of politics and it's very important that I respect the apolitical nature of the post I hope to soon occupy, as Massachusetts' senior senator today and as a colleague of Ed Markey's for 28 years, I'm excited to learn of and support his decision to run for the United States Senate. Ed's one of the most experienced and capable legislators in the entire Congress and it would be an almost unprecedented occasion for such an accomplished legislator to join the Senate able to hit the ground running on every issue of importance to Massachusetts. Ed's someone who authored and passed a visionary energy bill to deal with climate change; he's one of Congress' foremost experts on the Internet, telecommunications and new energy economies; he was a leader on nuclear weapons issues; and he's the House's leading, ardent, and thoughtful protector of the environment. Ed's upbringing in Malden and his service as the Dean of our delegation means he knows in his heart and in his head just what is important to every corner of our state. He's passionate about the issues that Ted Kennedy and I worked on as a team for decades, whether it's health care or the environment and energy or education. He's gutsy and tough, smart and sharp, a workhorse in Congress who has never forgotten where he came from or who sent him to Washington."

[Mass]

1. That is great news, as is the support of Vicky Kennedy.

I am not very surprised coming from Kerry, but I was pleasantly surprised to see her rush to support Markey.

[MBS]

2. more from WaPo

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2012/12/28/john-kerry-supports-ed-markey-for-senate/?hpid=z4

The Democratic establishment inside and outside Massachusetts is quickly lining up behind Rep. Ed Markey (D) in the likely special election for Sen. John Kerry’s seat. Kerry himself is supporting the longtime House member; so is the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Vicki Kennedy, the widow of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.
. . .
Kennedy quickly chimed in. “I believe that Congressman Ed Markey is the best person to continue in the tradition of John Kerry,” she said. “He will be a superb senator for Massachusetts.” Some Democrats were hoping Kennedy herself would run.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) followed with a statement as chairman of the DSCC, calling Markey “exactly the kind of leader Massachusetts needs in the U.S. Senate.”
. . .
A Kerry aide says that the senator will be voting for Markey. But in a nod to his likely future as an apolitical statesman, the statement never uses the word “endorse.”

It looks like the Dems are doing everything in their power to avoid a fractious primary, and to present a united front against Scott Brown.
Charlie Pierce was a step ahead of them:
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/massachusetts-senate-race-122812

So, it appears that, up here in the Commonwealth (God save it!), come next June, we're going to elect ourselves our third U.S. senator in the past two-and-a-half years. This assumes, of course, that the Republicans don't put John Kerry through the Benghazi blender and send him back to us as a tasty puree. (Not bloody likely, as the Republicans with this story are simply a dog with a new chew-toy. They don't really have any serious concerns. They just want to take the Benghazi back out into the yard and play with it some more.) Anyway, Congressman Edward Markey has announced that he's in, and good for him. There are other members of the delegation making noises -- notably Steve Lynch and Michael Capuano -- and I wish to god they weren't. . .
. . .(Markey's) positions on issues from telecommunications to climate change are strong and progressive, and he has $3.1 million to spend in his campaign accounts. (My own experience with him is through Markey's yeoman work on Alzheimer's Disease, and the issues relating to it, a fight in which I have a particularly nasty personal dog.) And, in his announcement, nicely timed on a slow news day, Markey came out swinging.

plus bonus of zingy commentary from Pierce on Scott Brown.

It is anticipated that the Republican nominee will be soon-to-be-former senator Scott Brown. This has been the subject of some hilarious nightsweats on the part of pundits from outside the state as to Senator McDreamy's formidability. He's certainly still convinced of his own world-historical status. In his farewell address in the Senate, he joked about seeing people soon. And then, earlier this week, possibly after extensive consultation from various kings and queens, he threw up a post on Facebook announcing that he was going back to Washington to work on a "deal" that the president had proposed. There was, alas, no deal of any sort for him to study. This was at the root of why he tangled himself up so badly in losing to Elizabeth Warren. The man really bought all the punditastic stroking that he got after his fluke win over Coakley about how he was a pivotal figure in a new American political age. He spent most of the early part of his re-election campaign massaging his own ego, and acting as though the very fact of Warren's challenging him was an affront to history. That's why he fell so easily onto the cheap, nasty, and ultimately futile campaign that not only was unsuccessful, but also severely damaged his good-guy centrist brand, perhaps beyond repair.

This fall, Pierce described Brown's Senate job as "about two sizes too big for him". Yup, that nails it.

[MBS]

4. barring a delayed appt for Sen. Kerry, it will be 2013, by MA law:

from current Massachusetts law:
http://www.malegislature.gov/laws/generallaws/parti/titleviii/chapter54/section140

Section 140. (a) Upon failure to choose a senator or representative in congress or upon creation of a vacancy in that office, the governor shall immediately cause precepts to be issued to the aldermen in every city and the selectmen in every town in the district, directing them to call an election on the day appointed in the precepts for the election of such senator or representative. The day so appointed shall not be more than 160 nor less than 145 days after the date that a vacancy is created or a failure to choose occurs. Filing a letter of resignation creates a vacancy under this section, even if the resignation is not effective until some later time, but the date of the election to fill a vacancy under this section shall be after the resignation is effective.

[Mass]

6. Not true. In MA, most know he will get the seat and keep it.

May be you may want to learn about MA politics before talking.