This I am adding below is a follow up to the above article.
Kennedy penned a poignant letter last week urging the leaders to change the law requiring a special election. In a joint statement last week to The Boston Globe, which first reported news of Kennedy's letter, both Murray and DeLeo were noncommittal.
A legislative committee co-chairman overseeing a bill that would enact the change admitted to the Boston Herald Monday that the move is aimed at keeping a Democrat in the seat.
"I want to make sure that as a Democrat we have a Democratic voice in there for the five months that it might be vacant," said Rep. Michael J. Moran, who chairs the legislative Election Laws Committee, told the newspaper.
Asked whether he would support the change if Republican Mitt Romney were still governor, Moran laughed and said, "Of course there's a political side to this."
Deliberation over the plan comes as Congress considers an overhaul of the nation's health care system, a life cause of Kennedy's. While Democrats hold a potentially filibuster-proof margin in Congress, the outcome of a health care reform bill could hinge on a single vote and some moderate Democrats have been wavering.
