Q&A #3: Senate President Succession

 "Beacon Hill Insider" asks:

SP Murrays reelection is up in the air due to her opponent, Mr. Keyes, having the backing of GOP insiders this time around. If the lady lush loses, which Senate sycophant will ascend to the presidency - Hart? Baddour? Brewer? or Rosenberg?

I suspect that Therese Murray will survive challenge number two from Tom Keyes, but it will be a serious race. My sense is that there really is no established, clear successor right now, and my guess is that if Murray loses they would go with Hart. He has a solid block of supporters, and few strenuous objectors. I don't think anyone else could rally for it in a short window of time. 

I'll throw this out there, however: I think the press and public should demand to play a real role in the next choice of senate president -- or house speaker. Obviously the votes ultimately belong to the members, but instead of it happening entirely in back rooms and restaurant function rooms, how about the candidates going around to editorial boards, doing public forums/debates around the commonwealth, and so on to discuss their visions of the issues and the future of Commonwealth? And then informed constituents weighing in to their local representative/senator via letters and phone calls saying who they would like their vote to go to?

Radical, I know, but that's what I'd like to see.