This was a test of Camelot's clout and Governor Deval Patrick's loyalties.
Kennedy's widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, lobbied for Paul G. Kirk, Jr. as Ted Kennedy's interim successor. So did Kennedy's sons, Patrick and Edward M. Kennedy Jr.
The pressure built. Patrick yielded.
In picking Kirk, Patrick chose a loyal Kennedy foot soldier and political insider who is well-known inside Washington';s power circles -- but is virtually unknown to Massachusetts voters.
In picking Kirk, Patrick rejected Michael S. Dukakis, who served three terms as governor of Massachusetts and won his party's presidential nomination, fighting all the while for core Democratic values. The Dukakis loss to George H.W. Bush in the 1988 presidential race is an unpleasant reminder of Democratic failure. But it is also an example of Dukakis's unwavering commitment to key Democratic principles, including health care reform.
Dukakis' wife, Kitty, was also an early and avid Patrick supporter, who stood behind his bid for governor when other Democrats wrote it off.
Kennedy's last wish for an interim replacement is being framed as a noble desire to retain two votes for Massachusetts, and especially to deliver a vote on health care legislation in the US Senate.
It's also about keeping Kennedy's office staff in Washington as long as possible. Given the Kennedy staff reputation for excellence, there's nothing wrong with that goal and there's nothing terrible about choosing Kirk to carry it out. He's a good man for the interim job. But let's not over-wrap it in Camelot's gauze. Pushing Kirk as the temporary bearer of the Kennedy torch is typical backroom politics. And, and it was done with typically sharp Kennedy elbows.
Kirk, a lawyer and onetime chairman of the Democratic National Committee, served as a special assistant to Kennedy from 1969 to 1977. He is currently the chairman of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. He will do exactly what Kennedy would want him to do on health care reform and other issues that come up in the limited time of his interim appointment.
But so would Dukakis. Or maybe he wouldn't. Is that so bad?
Why must Kirk be promoted at Dukakis's expense, by painting the former governor as a stubborn, aging, trash-collecting, eccentric?
It's pathetic to read the whispers of unnamed party officials who suggest that "an independent streak" makes Dukakis unsuitable for Washington. It's sad to hear the twenty-year-old jokes about a politician who left office to teach college students, not make millions in lobbyist fees; who walked away from elective office but stayed in the fight for public policy; who knows what he believes in and isn't afraid to state it; and who has a humble side, at odds with the over-inflated political ego that is a Washington staple.
In New York, Caroline Kennedy tried and failed to win appointment as Hillary Clinton's replacement, after the former first lady and presidential candidate left the US Senate to become secretary of state.
But in Massachusetts, the Kennedy legacy has more staying power and the Kennedy family believes it has more to say about who carries it forth.
Ted Kennedy's temporary replacement must reflect Kennedy's values and embody his spirit, as they define it.
The interim senator will hold the job only until a new senator is elected on Jan. 19. But the person should be more than a seat-warmer, not that either Kirk or Dukakis fits that description.
As James Michael Curley once said, "Every time you do a favor for a constituent, you make nine enemies and one ingrate."
From the start, Camelot's last hurrah was a dilemma for Patrick. To paraphrase Curley, who would be the ingrate, who the enemies?
If it is a last hurrah. One of Joe Kennedy's twin sons is supposedly interested in the eighth congressional district seat that his father once held. Its current occupant, Rep. Michael Capuano, is running to replace Ted Kennedy in January's special election. A Capuano win would leave an opening for another Kennedy-for-Congress campaign.
The torch may yet be passed to another Kennedy generation. No one wants to get burned.
Joan Vennochi can be reached at vennochi@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has named former Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk to temporarily replace the late Edward "Ted" Kennedy in the US Senate.

Ted Kennedy
Kirk, a longtime friend and former aide to Kennedy, is to be sworn in as senator this Friday. He will serve in the post until voters pick a permanent replacement during a special election next January.

The governor told reporters Thursday that matters before Congress and the nation are "too important for us to be one voice short" in Washington.

The appointment gives Democratic leaders in the Senate the 60th seat needed to circumvent efforts by Senate Republicans to prevent crucial votes on a health care reform bill. The late senator had called reform of the nation's health care system the cause of his life.

Kirk said he was honoured to be appointed and added that he will not run in the special election. "He Kennedy often said that representing the people of Massachusetts in the Senate of the United States was the highest honour that he could possibly imagine, and it is certainly nothing that I imagined, but it will be my highest honour, as well," Kirk said.

Kennedy's widow, Victoria, and his two sons, Edward Kennedy, Jr. and US Representative Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, both urged Governor Patrick to name Kirk.

The appointment comes one day after the Massachusetts House and Senate passed legislation allowing the governor to name an interim replacement until a special election is held. Kennedy's seat would have remained empty until the next elections, had that legislation not been approved. The rule change was one of Kennedy's last wishes.