Holding a Seat for Beau

The election of Delaware Senator Joe Biden set off all sorts of speculation over who would be appointed to his soon-to-be-vacant seat which he has held since 1973. The natural replacement has always been his son Beau, the current Attorney General of Delaware. One problem: Beau was just recently deployed to Iraq for a year as part of his Army National Guard unit.

So what to do? Well, how about appointing someone as a placeholder to keep the Senate seat warm for the younger Biden. How about a current Biden staffer to fill the seat for two years until the younger Biden is back in the states and can campaign on his own. According to The Hill: "A loyal family friend was appointed to Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s vacant Senate seat Monday as an apparent placeholder until Beau Biden can inherit it upon his return from active duty in Iraq. In one of her final acts in office, Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (D) selected Ted Kaufman, a longtime adviser and former chief of staff to the elder Biden, to be the state’s next senator." According to an LA Times political blog, Kaufman is "heading the senator's transition team for the vice presidency of the new Barack Obama administration."

Kaufman made it clear he has no intention of running for reelection in two years: "Kaufman made it clear after the announcement that he wouldn’t try to run for the seat in a 2010 special election. 'I am very comfortable with retiring after two years. I don’t think Delaware’s appointed senator should spend the next two years running for office,' Kaufman said after the announcement, according to press reports."

That's a pretty brash move orchestrated for the Bidens and not everyone in Delaware, including some Democrats, is pleased about it. One person that was particularly disappointed was Delaware's Lt. Governor: The selection of Kaufman "drew some groans and surprised others, who saw Lt. Gov. John Carney (D) as a solid option for Minner in Beau Biden’s absence. Carney even entertained the idea of being a placeholder himself. After the announcement, Carney admitted he wasn’t happy with the selection. 'I’m disappointed,' he said in a statement to the Wilmington-based News Journal. 'I would have liked to continue serving Delaware as a United States senator. I’ve dedicated my life to public service and I will continue to look for the best opportunity to keep doing that.'"

Vice President-elect Biden has yet to resign his seat. That likely won't happen until sometime in January.