Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) has sent a letter to Governor Deval L. Patrick, MA Senate President Therese Murray, and MA House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo asking that state law be amended to keep his seat filled should it - when it - soon becomes vacant. Current law allows for a special election five months after the vacancy; Kennedy would like the law to allow the Governor to appoint someone to hold the seat for those five months on the condition they not run. From the Boston Globe:

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, in a poignant acknowledgment of his mortality at a critical time in the national health care debate, has privately asked the governor and legislative leaders to change the succession law to guarantee that Massachusetts will not lack a Senate vote when his seat becomes vacant.

In a personal, sometimes wistful letter sent Tuesday to Governor Deval L. Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray, and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, Kennedy asks that Patrick be given authority to appoint someone to the seat temporarily before voters choose a new senator in a special election.

Although Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, does not specifically mention his illness or the health care debate raging in Washington, the implication of his letter is clear: He is trying to make sure that the leading cause in his life, better health coverage for all, advances in the event of his death.

This whole story is heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking. Edward Kennedy is a modern American hero, a gracious and gregarious man, and one of the most effective legislators in Congressional history. The worst day I had in Washington was the day his illness was announced; there was a black pall over the Hill all day.

This news comes on the heels of yesterday's Politico story about how his absence has impacted the health care debate. Kennedy, of course, has been seen less and less over the past few months, missing Justice Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation vote, his own White House Medal of Freedom ceremony, and his sister's funeral.