Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Quick Hits
2) Rep. William "Cold Cash" Jefferson indicted on multiple corruption charges. One question: What the hell took so long?
3) Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas passes away from leukemia. Condolences to Sen. Thomas' family. However, from a political standpoint, the interesting thing here is that Wyoming seems to have the smartest succession law in the country:
Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, will appoint a successor from one of three
finalists chosen by the state Republican Party.
This strikes me as a very wise way to insure that the basic will of a state's voters in the previous statewide Senate election are respected -- and the U.S. Senate wouldn't necessarily be thrown into chaos because of the possible switch of a Senate seat due to a death.
The officeholder's party gives the governor three names (obviously from the same party) and the governor then chooses who fills the vacancy. That actually seems, in certain ways, respecting the spirit of the old pre-17th amenedment way of electing senators -- through the state legislature.
More states would be wiser to adopt the Wyoming method.
Labels: corruption, Rep. William Jefferson, Scooter Libby, Sen. Craig Thomas, succession, Wyoming
