With Ted Kennedy’s death, the Democrats fell one vote short of the 60-seat threshold needed to stop a filibuster in the Senate. But now the governor of Massachusetts has named former Democratic Party Chairman Paul Kirk to temporarily fill Kennedy’s seat, giving the Democrats a major tool in the fight for health care reform.

The BBC:

The governor of Massachusetts has named Paul Kirk as a temporary replacement to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Edward Kennedy.

Mr Kirk, 71, is a former Democratic Party chairman and worked for Sen Kennedy for eight years.

The move means that Democrats in the US Senate have regained the majority needed to push through President Obama’s healthcare reform agenda.

They fell one seat short through the death of Sen Kennedy.

The Massachusetts state senate voted on Wednesday to allow the state governor to appoint a temporary replacement senator.

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#democrats#health care#health care reform#kennedy#massachusetts#senate