In 2004, John Kerry, a Democrat US Senator from Massachusetts, was running for President. The Governor of Massachusetts at the time was Mitt Romney, a Republican. The Democrats were worried that if Kerry won, Romney would appoint a Republican to replace him. So, they passed a law that says if a US Senate seat is vacated, the Governor can't do anything about it. A special election must be called to fill the vacancy.
Fast-forward to today. Senator Edward Kennedy's favorite bit of legislation (health care reform) is up for consideration. His health is failing fast. The Democrats have a majority in the Senate, but it's shaky, and some moderates have already bolted. His seat cannot be empty if his pet project is to pass. So he's back in Massachusetts, trying to get the lawmakers to pass a new law to get rid of the almost-new law, and allow the Governor to appoint a successor.
As the Republican House Leader, Brad Jones, puts it, "If this is going to move forward, people are going to have to explain what's changed between then and now."
(And lest anyone think I'm picking on the Democrats here, well, I am. But I know that Republicans could easily try something so blatantly underhanded and partisan. In the northeast, this is politics as usual. In most of the rest of the country, it wouldn't even cross people's minds to try something like this.)
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