Now that the question ofwhat to do about Ted Kennedy's Senate seat is no longer an academic one, folks in Boston seem to be giving the issue a little re-think. Remember Kennedy wrote to the governor recently asking him if he couldn't perhaps do something about that terrible law Democrats passed in 2004, the one that called for a special election in the event of a Senate vacancy FIVE MONTHS after the seat first opened? That got everybody so steamed ...

Because honestly, a bit of arbitrary legislation dreamed up for the sole purpose of preventing Mitt Romney from appointing a Republican successor to "President" John F. Kerry should be allowed to stand on principle. Otherwise, people might begin to suspect that the legislation was cooked up with one very partisan aim in mind!

But now legislators are coming around, maybe, to the idea of getting rid of the whole five-month wait thing, because they don't want to be held SINGLEHANDEDLY RESPONSIBLE for depriving health care reform of one precious vote and maybe even killing it. Especially when health care was one of the things that mattered most in the world to Ted Kennedy, who really could not have picked a less convenient time to die.

In an interview with a local Massachusetts television station this morning, [Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Mike Capuano] signaled that he was supportive of Kennedy’s request to have a temporary appointee until the election can be held.

“It would be a real slap in the face to the country if the only reason we can’t get a health care bill through is because of a vacant seat,” he said.

As of yesterday, the president of the state senate is likewise "open" to the idea of a temporary appointment.

Fate of Kennedy’s Senate Seat Unknown [Washington Wire]