I guess that's why they're real bloggers...

I was just about to opine about who will succeed Kennedy, but Politico wrote just about everything I was planning on saying.

Massachusetts political operatives consider state Attorney General Martha Coakley an early front-runner because of her high statewide name recognition and strong favorable ratings. With a law enforcement background — she served as the district attorney of Middlesex County before winning election as attorney general — Coakley would have the opportunity to forge a coalition of law-and-order Democrats and female voters. [...]

Her biggest competition could come from the state’s House delegation, where two Democratic members — Reps. Michael Capuano and Stephen Lynch — are expected to run, according to Massachusetts political insiders. Both have more than $1.2 million in their campaign accounts. [...]

The most senior members of the delegation, Reps. Ed Markey and Barney Frank, have previously been considered leading Senate prospects. But with a Democratic control of the House and the two holding important committee chairmanships, neither is expected to pursue a Senate bid.

Frank ruled out the possibility of a Senate campaign in an interview with WBUR radio Wednesday morning, while a Markey spokesman would not comment Wednesday on his interest in a Senate campaign. [...]

I think Markey is witty and has an intense interest in energy policy. Now that health care reform will probably be on the back-burner for a while, a Senate seat might be just the job for him. More realistically, though Coakley would be good for all the reasons mentioned above. Plus, she's tough as nails and can talk with conservatives. She might make the best candidate to help pass health care reform.

Ted Kennedy's dying wish was to have someone fill the seat until the special election:

It was recently revealed that Kennedy wrote a letter to Patrick, state Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo urging them to pass legislation to amend the state’s current succession law, which gives voters the authority to fill a Senate vacancy.

That law was passed in 2004 as part of the Democratic-controlled Legislature’s attempt to deny Republican Mitt Romney, then governor, the opportunity to appoint a Republican to Kerry’s Senate seat in the event he won the presidency.

Democratic legislative leaders initially expressed some resistance to Kennedy’s proposal. But in an interview Wednesday with WBUR radio, Patrick said he supported the request to grant him appointment powers — and would sign such a bill — and the Boston Herald reported that state House Speaker Robert DeLeo privately gave his blessing to allow Patrick to appoint Kennedy’s successor.

If I heard right, I think that this appointee would be ineligible to run, so any of the above candidates would not be interested in the job, presumably.

One thing the Politico article does not leave you with, however, is end-of-post entertainment. For that I have chosen George Jones: