Category — Sal DiMassi

Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi (HT: Redstate):

The leader of the Massachusetts House says he will support giving Gov. Deval Patrick the power to appoint an interim successor to U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy if that becomes necessary.

The Democratic-controlled Legislature stripped Republican Gov. Mitt Romney of that authority in 2004 because of fears he would name a Republican to replace U.S. Sen. John Kerry if he had been elected president.

Instead, state law now requires a special election for the seat no sooner than 145 days and no later than 160 days after the vacancy occurs.

But House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi said yesterday if Kennedy should step aside or have to be replaced because of his brain tumor diagnosis, he’d be in favor of a gubernatorial appointment.

“That was a good political reason (then),” DiMasi said of taking the power away from Romney. “It’s a good political reason to change it back.”

I don’t know why they would bother with this. It isn’t like Republicans have any chance of picking up Kennedy’s seat.

The casino debacle keeps getting worse for Governor Deval Patrick. The governor wasn’t even in the state let alone on Beacon Hill as the centerpiece of his economic development plan was being debated and voted on. With no visible leadership from the governor, Speaker DiMasi easily defeated the proposal.

What is interesting, and I’d argue becoming a pattern for this governor, was the reason for his absence—personal gain. The governor was in New York negotiating a book deal instead of leading his own key initiative. But that’s not surprising when you consider that in the months preceding the vote, he campaigned for Barack Obama and an eventual cabinet post for himself a lot more than he campaigned on Beacon Hill for his casino bill.

The governor’s failure, his campaign promises are nowhere near reality, was certainly predictable. Patrick is a dreamer. He all but screamed it with talk of “change” and campaign slogans like “Yes, we can”. Dreamers paint towering visions in the mind, but rarely put brush strokes on canvas.

And speaking of dreamers, the Patrick experience in Massachusetts is what fellow dreamer Barack Obama will deliver on the national level too. Dreamers don’t roll up their sleeves and get things done, which explains why Obama’s resume is devoid of actual accomplishments outside of being elected.

MA has a Democratic governor, but you wouldn’t know that by the enmity between the corner office and Beacon Hill. In fact, except for party affiliation and bank account size, Deval Patrick and Mitt Romney are sharing eerily similar terms as governor. Romney spent a lot of time out of state campaigning for president when it became apparent the legislature ran the state. Deval Patrick spends his time out of state campaigning for Barack Obama, which might explain why his casino bill is getting deep-sixed.

Romney was a lame duck because there weren’t enough Republicans on Beacon Hill to sustain a veto. Patrick is a lame duck because he made the casino battle personal by trying to smear DiMassi. Romney’s singular accomplishment, if one could actually call socialized medicine an accomplishment, was handed to him because the legislature wanted it. Deval Patrick will also only get what the legislature wants him to because he’s only shown an ability to burn bridges and none at building them.

I’m betting an Obama administration cabinet post is looking awfully good to our Moonbat-in-chief just like being POTUS looked awfully good to Mitt Romney.