A flurry of flip-flops

We’ve never put an entire legislature to the Flip-O-Meter before. But the recent move by the Massachusetts legislature in filling the seat held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy was too bold to pass up.

Massachusetts legislators this week approved a bill that allows the governor to appoint a temporary successor to Kennedy. But that came just over five years after legislators stripped the governor’s longstanding power to appoint a U.S. senator to fill a vacancy. Both moves were consistent in one sense: In the strongly Democratic state, they advanced the Democratic Party’s interests. But the two actions amount to a resounding Full Flop.

We also rated the flip of Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a possible presidential candidate in 2012, on his support of a cap-and-trade plan to combat climate change. That one, too earned a Full Flop.