The State Department has said the election results would not change Secretary of State Hillary Clinton”s plans to step down. “You”ve heard her say many times that she intends to see through a transition of a successor, and then, she will go back to private life and enjoy some – some rest,” The rumor mill suggests that John Kerry will replace her at State.
If this rumor is correct, there will be a fascinating opportunity to appoint a second strong person as Senator. Under Mass Law, a special election would be held within 160 days. If Kerry vacates his seat, the GOP will push Brown hard to run in a Senate special election. Brown, who won his current seat in a 2009 special election, would be an immediate frontrunner. Even in this year’s fierce Senate contest, Brown has maintained a decent approval rating and image of moderation.
While the obvious speculation is about prominent politicians as Democratic candidates, including Gov. Deval Patrick, Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, Rep. Stephen Lynch and Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.), I would hope that, unlike the horrid election that gave brown a seat, that this time the National Party would step in. Leaving aside the named politicians, Mass. has a number of “names” that would make very impressive candidates … Victoria Reggie, Ted Kennedy’s wife; Stephen Pagliuca, a private equity executive and Celtics co-owner; Jack Connors, a cofounder of a major advertising firm and chairman of Partners HealthCare, or Tom Menino, first Italian American Mayor of Boston. There are also a number of famous scientists at Harvard and MIT that might take such a role “for the good of the country.”