The U.S. Senate is set to have its second active African-American senator.
Yesterday, Gov. Deval Patrick named William Cowan to represent the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, replacing John Kerry, who was confirmed to be Secretary of State.
Cowan is a Boston area attorney, as well as Gov. Patrick’s former chief of staff and top adviser. He is the first African-American senator from Massachusetts since Republican Sen. Edward Brooke, who served from 1967 to 1979. He also joins current Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina as only 1 of 2 current African-American senators.
Recently retired Rep. Barney Frank was very vocal in proclaiming that he wanted the senate appointment, however Gov. Patrick obviously decided to go in a different direction.
Cowan, a Democrat, will be a temporary caretaker for the senate seat, until a June 25th special election is held.
As I expressed in a related post yesterday…Barney Frank is probably not amused by this pick. But so what? That's life.
Gov. Patrick picked a man who seems to be smart, competent and qualified to hold the position. He picked a man who came from humble beginnings and worked his way to the top.
The Governor ignored the conventional thinking and babblings of some people in the left-wing media (who darn near insisted he pick Frank), and he also seized upon this opportunity to make history.
Well done, Governor!