Who The Hell Is Caroline Kennedy?
I’m not being facetious here when I ask about Caroline Kennedy. Since she’s likely to be the next Senator from New York, I’d like to know a little more about what kind of Senator she might be. Until last year, this is the only thing I knew about her :
That and I think I might have caught her on a talk show once talking about one of her books. That’s it. I understand that she’s had a semi-public life, but I tend to follow electoral politics, not the lives of celebrities from political families.
I’m sure Kennedy is a good person and might make a good Senator, but her thin political resume makes her a blank slate. Where’s her political platform? Has she ever participated in a debate? Does she have a voting record of some sort? Being a prominent Democrat who supported Barack Obama is hardly a defining trait when we’re talking about appointing someone to the United States Senate.
Even worse, when I go to Wikipedia and try to find out what she actually stands for, this is what I get :
Seriously, this isn’t a joke. If Caroline Kennedy were a normal candidate for elected office, she’d have a website in which she presented herself to the people she’s trying to represent, but the closest I could find to that in five minutes of Googling was a Wikipedia bio and her entry at the IMDB.
Unlike every other name on the AP’s short list for the Senate seat, Caroline Kennedy has never been elected to anything, ever1. The people of New York are supposed to accept her jump from “professional Kennedy” into the U.S. Senate based on the assurances of a few powerful elites?? At the very least, the Senate seat should be filled by someone who has actually been chosen by the people of New York for something. Congressmen, State Senators, Mayors, and other elected officials from New York should be outraged by the fact that Kennedy is able to cash in on her family’s name and skip ahead of dozens of dedicated public servants to ascend to one of the most powerful positions in the nation.
Must be nice.
1 : Before anyone mentions it, the selection of Joe Biden’s senior advisor to fill the open Senate seat in Delaware is equally unjust. In some ways, it’s even more bizarre in that Ted Kaufman is clearly just a seat warmer so that Biden’s son can run for the seat in a 2010 special election (Joe was re-elected to his Senate seat last month too), but at least in this case, the potential nepotism will ultimately be decided by voters.
11 comments »
Copy link for RSS feed for comments on this post or for TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Hello there!
I think that there are many people speculating about WHY Caroline Kennedy has decided to step into the role of Senator.
It’s a no brainer. This country is going to hell in a hand basket and everyone who is ABLE to wield influence on a broad level in a way that will produce positive change for this country better step off of the yacht and out of obscurity NOW.
I think Caroline now realizes that this nation needs more of her leadership on the front lines.
Her mother always said in interviews that Caroline was the child that she felt would be the best-suited for public life.
Caroline got married and devoted her life to her children while maintaining a STRONG presence in the political arena supporting progressive-thinking candidates WITHOUT having her name in every issue and cause that she has been advancing from the sidelines.
Obama did not bring her out front simply because her last name was Kennedy. He knew that she had a very seasoned understanding of the political machine in his country because her own family has helped to shape that political machine.
People claim that sitting on boards is not “REAL” experience. They have never served on a board with a significant role because boards members hire and fire organization and corporate officials and shape policy and guide organizations to market leadership. Board members are responsible for evaluating the implementaion of initiatives and for evaluating the effectiveness of leadership practices.
Caroline has had this responsibility for decades. I don’t feel we should take it lightly.
Caroline is unimpressed by wealth and power and is the least likely to be “bought” by Washington special interest groups. Caroline also understands consensus building. She will be a unifier and I believe that is vitally necessary.
Peace, blessings and DUNAMIS!
Lisa
Comment by Lisa — December 17, 2008 @ 2:01 am
This isn’t nepotism. It’s worse than that. It’s dynastic politics. Apparently, the failure to teach us that this is a bankrupt concept should also be added to the (amazingly) still-growing list of failures of the second Bush administration.
It’s also very discouraging that polls indicate that Kennedy is actually supported by a majority of Democrats in New York (and, hence a majority of NY voters).
Comment by Chris — December 17, 2008 @ 8:22 am
I certainly agree. While we had a long way to go on July 4, 1776 before we had a real democracy, one thing that was absolutely clear back then was that the whole point of declaring independence and undertaking a war to secure it was to free ourselves of the hereditary aristocracy. Where the hell does this impulse come from to restore it?
Another Kennedy, a total airhead named Max, declared himself a candidate to be my Representative a few years back. The first time he tried to give a press conference and speak in public, he revealed himself to be such a blithering idiot that he was forced to withdraw. Hurray. But Caroline isn’t even being put to that test. This is ridiculous, outrageous, offensive, and completely contrary to the basic values we pretend that our polity is based on.
And for her to actively pursue the appointment, to assume that her name entitles her to a Senate seat, ought to be disqualifying in itself.
Yuck.
Comment by Cervantes — December 17, 2008 @ 8:28 am
Hah! Board members don’t do squat. They are tools of the Executive Director. Her job on boards was fundraising, period. She’s a successful fundraiser because she’s a celebrity in high society and people pay to go to her parties. That’s her experience.
This “Lisa” character is obviously on her payroll.
Comment by Cervantes — December 17, 2008 @ 10:37 am
Please explain how you arrive at your conclusion that “she’s likely to be the next Senator from New York.”
As a New Yorker, I agree with the sentiment that there are other, better qualified candidates. I think, however, that you should reflect on your rhetoric, and examine your conclusions.
Comment by hoser — December 17, 2008 @ 11:48 am
Well, I say Kennedy is “likely” to get the seat is because the only place I’m seeing vocal disapproval on the left is in blogs. The Democratic mainstream has been either noncommittal on the notion of giving JFK’s daughter the best Christmas present everor openly supportive (ie. Harry Reid). What’s worse, there seems to be a dismissive notion towards critics of this prospective appointment that goes something like this :
Which is, to say the least, incredibly disrespectful towards Clinton who, unlike Caroline Kennedy, was chosen twice by the people of New York to represent them.
Personally, I wish they’d have a special election and be done with it. At least then, if Caroline Kennedy ran for the office and won, her ascension would be the choice of the people of New York. Barring that, if Patterson is going to appoint someone, he should appoint someone from one of New York’s local or national Congressional delegations.
Comment by greg — December 17, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
Greg: I certainly agree that “if Patterson is going to appoint someone, he should appoint someone from one of New York’s local or national Congressional delegations.”
There are some very qualified Congressional reps who are better known commodities and have demonstrated more commitment to serving New York than Ms. Kennedy. Off hand, I can think of Maurice Hinchey who has been a voice in the wilderness on investigating Bush admin wrongdoings. He started out in the state legislature where he was a great voice for upstate. There’s also Kirsten Gillibrand who just trounced her Republican opponent in a district custom gerrymandered for her 2006 Republican opponent.
Comment by Chris — December 18, 2008 @ 5:56 am
Unfortunately, brand names trump common sense in America. And in politics, Kennedy is the top brand name.
Comment by Doobie — December 18, 2008 @ 9:48 am
In case you missed it, the New York Times today published a Q&A with Caroline Kennedy about her platform ‘of sorts’. Her answers are so vague, it appears as though she feels revealing any position on important issues could only hurt her chances of election (er um, appointment).
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/nyregion/21kennedy.html?_r=1&hp
Comment by SkeptiSys — December 20, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
Dear greg, Chris, Cervantes, and Doobie,
Yeah, Wikipedia is a real credible source. Liz Holtzman seems to me like the best candidate, and Mario Cuomo’s son Andrew may be second, but you could read Ms. Kennedy’s book, A Patriot’s Handbook, and see what she thinks, and where she is coming from, if you are interested. Moynihan was no bargain, Clinton was worse, but now Caroline Kennedy is a threat to democracy? Please forgive me if you are all voting New Yorkers, as I’m from PA, but to lay the failure of the bush dynasty at the feet of the Kennedys is complete and utter idiocy, ‘Cervantes’. They are polar opposites. By the way, I’m not in the pay of the Kennedys; I work for a living. (Lisa, you go girl! But what the heck is Dunamis?) But whose pay are you people in? (Hoser, I can’t get a fix on you from your comments.) If Caroline Kennedy is supported by a majority of Democrats, and hence New Yorkers, how is there a problem for democracy if she is appointed? I’ve been paying attention politically for decades as a Democrat, and I love her and her family. She could be as great as Ted or Bobby, or her dad.
Comment by Mike McCampbell — December 20, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
[...] a weird way, a choice like the one made in New York with Caroline Kennedy would actually make better sense in Illinois now. A system as tainted with scandal as [...]
Pingback by Blagojevich defies all reason and logic and appoints Roland Burris to replace Obama for Illinois’s Senate seat « Nuclear Rays From My Halogen Haze — December 30, 2008 @ 2:31 pm