William ‘Mo’ Cowan (photo: ScottLacey.com)
*Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has made his choice of Mo Cowan as the interim Senate replacement for now former Senator John Kerry who resigned to become Secretary of State.
And in doing so, among other things, has created an interesting scenario involving MSNBC news host Lawrence O’Donnell, who openly backed retired Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank. If you follow O’Donnell’s program, it was as if he dared Patrick to choose anyone other than Frank.He also announced that the Governor will appear on his show, “The Last Word, ” to explain his choice. O’Donnell has basically said he’s not going to take it lightly if Patrick doesn’t choose Frank. Well Patrick didn’t, so we’ll see what happens tonight.
But back to Cowan. He is the second African-American to represent the state of Massachusetts in the Senate. Republican Ed Brooke was the first, he served from 1967 to 1979.
Here’s what the Boston Globe is reporting:
Cowan, 43, was first hired by Patrick as his legal counsel in 2009 and was then promoted to chief of staff in 2010. Last November, Cowan stepped down from the $144,000 a year job.
Cowan is a North Carolina native and Duke University graduate who came to Boston to attend Northeastern University Law School in the early 1990s – and never left the region. One of the city’s leading African-American lawyers, Cowan is a former partner in the politically connected law firm of Mintz Levin.
Patrick and Cowan built up a strong friendship over the years, in part, because both men have risen from difficult childhoods to prominence in Boston and in the state. Patrick also served as a mentor to Cowan when both were practicing lawyers.
Read/learn more at the Boston Globe.
barney Frank would have been the better choice. This is politics as usual, not about the common good but about friendships and politics
Disagree totally. This notion that arrogant Barney Frank would have been the best choice is laughable. He was part of a do-nothing Congress for years and did not push for a lot of things that needed to get done. Nope, I think this is an EXCELLENT choice and Governor Patrick has a new fan in me.
TAKE NOTE OBAMA. THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT. WHEN YOU GET A CHANCE TO MAKE A STATEMENT, YOU DO IT! Who gives a f*ck what the “beltway” assumes? Patrick just did the damn thing. I love it!
Not only that. It was insulting that ONCE AGAIN a governor was expected to yield to demands of party insiders. The former (black) David Patterson (D-NY) was pressured to anoint Caroline Kennedy as Hillary’s successor. Patrick was pressured to anoint Frank.
I am THRILLED that Patrick ignored the overtures and appointed someone else. I wouldn’t have cared who it was as long as it wasn’t Barney Frank who said himself that he was tired of Congress. Only to turn around and beg to be a Senator because there was “lots of work” to do.
What makes this 30+yr Congressman more qualified than one of the leading lawyers in Boston? Answer: politics.