Musical Senate Seats

Now that it looks like Senator Clinton will be President Obama's Secretary of State in a few months, there is a lot of talk about who the Governor of New York will appoint to hold her Senate seat until the 2010 election. One name being mentioned is the first female Speaker of the City Council of New York, Christine Quinn, who also happens to be the first openly gay Speaker as well.

I don't know how likely such an appointment would be, given that a move from City Council to United States Senate would be a pretty big step. It's still exciting, though, to think that an openly gay woman is even being spoken of for the position. She'd be the first openly gay United States Senator, certainly a milestone.

While Speaker Quinn being appointed is probably a long shot, at least she has held elective office, unlike Ted Kaufman, the man who will be a Senator from Delaware for the next two years, filling Vice President-elect Biden's seat. Kaufman was Biden's Chief of Staff for nineteen years and a lot of people see his appointment as nothing more than that of a 'seat filler' until the 2010 election when Biden's son Beau can run for his father's old job.

Anyway, I hope that Governor Paterson will appoint a woman to fill Clinton's seat when and if she becomes Secretary of State. It would be a shame to have the historically high number of 17 women in the Senate last only a few weeks, just as it would be a shame if the number of African Americans in the Senate dropped to zero now that Senator Obama has resigned his seat.