There is only one way this makes sense:
ABC News has learned that Delaware’s “newly elected Democratic governor is planning to take the oath of office at 12:01 a.m. ET on Jan. 20, 2009, making it possible for him to name Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s replacement to the United States Senate. Whether Governor-elect Jack Markell (D) gets to name Biden’s Senate replacement will ultimately turn on whether the Vice President-elect makes good on his stated intention to wait until the moment he becomes Vice President to resign from the U.S. Senate.”
“Delaware law provides that when a U.S. senator resigns before the end of his term, the state’s governor appoints a replacement who remains in office until the next election which, in this case, is 2010.”
Speculation is that Biden’s son, currently serving in Iraq, would run for the seat in 2010.
Sounds all mysterious and intriguey, doesn’t it? Markell and Biden conspiring together so that it is Markell that makes the appointment? Read through to the ABC Story, though:
The midnight swearing-in will take place in Newark, Del., on the campus of the University of Delaware. Markell will be sworn into office by one of the state’s Supreme Court justices. While Markell will take the oath of office and officially become governor on January 20, he will re-enact the swearing-in and deliver his inaugural address on January 21, at the state capitol in Dover, Del. Markell opted for a midnight swearing-in to accommodate Delawareans who wanted to attend the Obama-Biden inauguration in Washington, D.C., as well as the inauguration of the new governor, while simultaneously complying with the state constitution’s requirement that the new governor be sworn in on January 20.
Markell thought it would be more feasible to hold a re-enactment on January 21 than it would be to hold a daytime swearing-in on January 20.
Hmmm. Now that is a very plausible and reasonable explanation for why Markell would take office early in the morning on January 20. Indeed it might not have any connection to the appointment of Biden’s successor. But this alternative scenario does not explain away Biden’s stated intention to hold onto to his Senate seat until the moment he becomes Vice President. Why is Biden doing this? He is not in Washington conducting Senate business, so that cannot be the reason. And if he is to hold onto the seat until January 20th, then seniority for the appointed Senator must not be a consideration at all, which means Biden must want a 2 year placeholder appointment. And given his intention to stay in the Senate until January 20th, it must mean that Ruth Ann Minner has told him that she will appoint John Carney to the Senate, and Carney has told him that he will not step aside for Beau in 2010.
That is the only reason this all makes sense. It disappoints me. I would have thought Jack Markell would want John Carney in the Senate helping Delaware. A great primary race leads to a great partnership between Washington and Dover. Instead, if this happens, it would seem Jack Markell is content to be a footnote in the Biden family dynasty.