If Joe Biden wants his Senate seat to go to his son, Beau, then this seems like the proper way of trying to arrange for that:
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner said today she will appointed Ted Kaufman, a longtime, close adviser to Sen. Joe Biden to fill the senator's seat until a 2010 special election, a move that some warned could leave Delaware’s Democratic party feelings bruised for years to come.
The selection of the former Biden chief of staff was widely seen as a move by Vice president-elect Biden to protect his seat for his oldest son, Attorney General Beau Biden, now deploying to Iraq with his Delaware National Guard unit.
At least this way the voters of Delaware* will get a say as to whether Beau Biden goes to Washington--which they wouldn't have had if Minner had just appointed Beau outright.
*--Mandatory TNR disclaimer that Delaware is a rapacious parasite state with a long history of disloyalty and avarice.
--Jason Zengerle