Every now and then, an incident or set of circumstances reveals a policy or procedure to be fundamentally flawed. In the case of gubernatorial appointments to vacant seats in the U.S. Senate, the series of events were Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and New York Gov. David Paterson.
The practice most states follow of having governors appoint people to fill vacant Senate seats is fundamentally flawed. It needs to be scrapped.
U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., agrees, and said Sunday he plans to introduce an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to end appointments to the Senate by state governors and require special elections in the event of a Senate seat vacancy. Feingold, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, should follow through on his promise.
The past few weeks have brought us the media spectacles of Blagojevich and Paterson appointing the Senate replacements for President Barack Obama in Illinois and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in New York. For different reasons, both were travesties.
Blagojevich, while facing federal corruption charges that include an accusation that he tried to sell the Senate appointment, was able to push through his selection, Roland Burris. Burris' main claim to fame in Illinois politics is being twice rejected by voters in bids to be governor. While Burris appears clear of any association with Blagojevich's alleged wrongdoing, the mere fact he was appointed by the soon-to-be impeached governor taints his Senate presence.
Paterson, meanwhile, displayed incompetence and a lack of political decency in his drawn-out selection process. He ultimately chose the relatively obscure Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to replace Clinton. There were weeks of speculation that Caroline Kennedy would be appointed. But she withdrew her name from consideration last week amid whispers from the Paterson camp of extramarital affairs and "nanny problems."
"The controversies surrounding some of the recent gubernatorial appointments ... make it painfully clear that such appointments are an anachronism that must end," Feingold said.
The controversies, though, aren't really the problem. In politics, there always will be controversy and scandal. But the Blagojevich and Paterson sagas have shined a spotlight on an appointment process that is flawed because it takes the Senate election powers away from where it belongs - with the people.
Wisconsin is one of only a handful of states that requires special elections to fill Senate seats. We are one of the few who have it right. Voters should be making those decisions, not governors - no matter whether the appointments are made under a cloud or with relative ease, as appointments in Delaware and Colorado recently were. We applaud Feingold for stepping forward with a proposal to end such a preposterous process.
The practice most states follow of having governors appoint people to fill vacant Senate seats is fundamentally flawed. It needs to be scrapped.
U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., agrees, and said Sunday he plans to introduce an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to end appointments to the Senate by state governors and require special elections in the event of a Senate seat vacancy. Feingold, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, should follow through on his promise.
The past few weeks have brought us the media spectacles of Blagojevich and Paterson appointing the Senate replacements for President Barack Obama in Illinois and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in New York. For different reasons, both were travesties.
Blagojevich, while facing federal corruption charges that include an accusation that he tried to sell the Senate appointment, was able to push through his selection, Roland Burris. Burris' main claim to fame in Illinois politics is being twice rejected by voters in bids to be governor. While Burris appears clear of any association with Blagojevich's alleged wrongdoing, the mere fact he was appointed by the soon-to-be impeached governor taints his Senate presence.
Paterson, meanwhile, displayed incompetence and a lack of political decency in his drawn-out selection process. He ultimately chose the relatively obscure Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to replace Clinton. There were weeks of speculation that Caroline Kennedy would be appointed. But she withdrew her name from consideration last week amid whispers from the Paterson camp of extramarital affairs and "nanny problems."
"The controversies surrounding some of the recent gubernatorial appointments ... make it painfully clear that such appointments are an anachronism that must end," Feingold said.
The controversies, though, aren't really the problem. In politics, there always will be controversy and scandal. But the Blagojevich and Paterson sagas have shined a spotlight on an appointment process that is flawed because it takes the Senate election powers away from where it belongs - with the people.
Wisconsin is one of only a handful of states that requires special elections to fill Senate seats. We are one of the few who have it right. Voters should be making those decisions, not governors - no matter whether the appointments are made under a cloud or with relative ease, as appointments in Delaware and Colorado recently were. We applaud Feingold for stepping forward with a proposal to end such a preposterous process.
