A strong piece in Politico on the changing culture of the United States Senate speaks to Rhode Island's outsize clout in the chamber:

Rhode Island’s Reed stands out most, leading by his quiet example. In his 12 years, he has established an extraordinary committee base affecting domestic and defense policy; with the U.

A new reader poll at The Washington Post's political blog, The Fix, has Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Claire McCaskill tied for most underrated senator.

Yesterday, we asked Fixistas to choose the most underrated member of the U.S. Senate from a list of six options. More than 3,600(!) of you offered your opinion.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who favors a public option in the push to reform health care, tells D.C. publication The Hill that Senator Max Baucus' relatively moderate health care proposal, which includes no public option, appears ascendant.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and his centrist allies received a major boost Wednesday when the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) delivered an analysis of his legislation, which does not include the public option.

Stephen Smith is not exactly a household name. But his endorsement of US Representative Michael Capuano for the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat is generating a little buzz.

Smith, you see, is the son of Jean Kennedy Smith and nephew of Ted Kennedy. And he is the first member of the clan to publicly back a candidate in the race.

The Kennedy confidante reportedly favored by Patrick Kennedy and other family members as a temporary replacement for the late Ted Kennedy in the US Senate has been named to the post. From the Boston Globe:

Governor Deval Patrick today named Paul G. Kirk Jr. to serve as interim US senator, making the announcement in the presence of the immediate family of the late Edward M.

The Associated Press reports that Patrick Kennedy and his brother Edward Kennedy Jr. have called Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and endorsed a close family friend, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk, Jr., as a temporary replacement for their father, the late Ted Kennedy, in the US Senate.

If there was ever a sign that Rhode Island's senators have little to fear in the way of serious political challenge, and can vote as they like, here it is. From the Associated Press, via the WPRI web site:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP/WPRI) - Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse says he voted against a proposal to block an embattled community organization from receiving government grants because he did not want to punish the entire group for the actions of a few workers.

This just in from Patrick Kennedy's office:

“All of us in the Kennedy family are deeply touched by today’s action of the Senate naming the historic Caucus Room in the Russell Senate Office Building for the three Kennedy brothers who meant so much to the Senate and to our country. It’s a beautiful room and a beautiful tribute to President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and my father Edward Kennedy.

Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd has elected to stay put on the Senate Banking Committee, passing up a chance to take over the Senate's health committee amid a major push for health care reform.

That closes off the possibility that Senator Jack Reed might take the chairmanship of the Banking Committee as Congress weighs a major overhaul of financial regulation in the wake of the economic crash.

Senator Ted Kennedy's death has kicked off a round of speculation about committee chairmanships in Washington. Many observers expect Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd to take Kennedy's post atop the Senate health committee amid the big push for health care reform, leaving Dodd's perch as chairman of the Banking Committee vacant.

I've got a cover story today on the ProJo's attempt to reinvent the local news in an era of diminished resources. Entire cities and towns are going uncovered, but the paper - no longer covering the municipal munitia to the same degree - is doing some more interesting, contextual journalism. Will it be enough to save the paper?

Washington, of course, is already contemplating the implications of Senator Ted Kennedy's death for his colleagues in the US Senate. The chatter includes a Politico piece which suggests that Kennedy's passing could vault Senator Jack Reed into the chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee just as Congress considers key curbs on Wall Street excess:

I had a single brush with Ted Kennedy. I was 17 years old and my father, a long-time editor and columnist at the Boston Globe, was dying of cancer when the state's senior senator appeared at our door with his wife.

It was a brief visit. My father was weak and couldn't speak much. Senator Kennedy sat in an old rocking chair with a loose arm that promptly broke off.

Sheldon Whitehouse's pronouncements on waterboarding get play on Andrew Sullivan's blog (he of Atlantic fame):

"I want my colleagues and the American public to know that measured against the information I have been able to gain access to, the story line we have been led to believe--the story line about waterboarding we have been sold--is false in every one of its dimensions.