Over the past several weeks, I've been engaged with staff and friends in an ongoing debate over the potential appointment of Caroline Bouvier Kennedy to fill the Senate seat soon to be vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton. I am a staunch supporter of the Kennedy family and, both by extension of that and because of her policy positions and what she will bring to the Senate, strongly support Ms. Kennedy's "bid" to become the junior Senator from New York.
Earlier this week, my good friend and the only person to read this blog, Eshawn Rawlley, posted a lengthy piece on his web log (he does not run a "blog") not so much trashing the idea of Caroline as a Senator, but arguing that she should run in 2010 instead. (He did compare her to Sarah Palin, so you could very well say he was trashing Caroline, but his intentions were otherwise.)
Then, using essentially the same title, Maureen Dowd, who thankfully returned from a mysterious 7 week absence, argued my side of the issue - that Caroline, regardless of her last name - would make an excellent Senator. Her column can be found by clicking here.
I second MoDo's column, which is far better written than anything you'll get from me, but I relayed my thoughts on the matter to Mr. Rawlley in response to what is now his web log post from Monday and include that for you here...
First, you've committed what we in my religion regard as a sin, that of blasphemy against the Kennedys.
Comparing Caroline to Sarah Palin, as you seem to have acknowledged, is beyond comparing apples and oranges. Caroline is a smart, educated, poised attorney who understands the world and politics. Sarah Palin is caribou barbie. That, and while they are both important offices, there is a big difference between being a heartbeat away from the presidency and being the junior senator from New York.
Now I will acknowledged that I am biased to the point of probably being blinded by my loyalty to this family. But my loyalty to them stems from something, and those reasons are part of the reasons I want to see her in the Senate so badly.
I do not believe there is much similarity between CK and SP aside from their mutual lack of a Y chromosome. Caroline, it must be said, is far from charismatic. I wish she were, but she's simply not, beyond the intrigue of being America's princess. But more importantly, Caroline is not ambitious...if she were she could have run for major office and won a long time ago. She has never been one to seek out the limelight or to exploit her name or seek power. This goes to the heart of the matter: Why would Caroline Kennedy, at 51, suddenly want to be a United States Senator? Her late uncle had a good answer when he was running for this very seat in 1964, and if you look towards the beginning of that book I gave you (Thurston Clarke's The Last Campaign), it's described in there. Bobby was responding to charges that he was a carpetbagger who simply wanted to use the Senate as a stepping stone to the White House. He responded by turning the answer into a question, asking why would I want this particular job? I don't need the money, he said, I'm already very wealthy. I don't need the title, he said, I'm entitled to be called "General" for life. I don't need the name recognition or celebrity, I'm already one of the most recognizable people in the world. Why then, run for this office? Because there are people out there suffering, there are people who need a strong advocate and he wanted to be that advocate. I think Caroline's reasoning is very much the same. She's probably in this for the most genuine of reasons, more so than Andrew Cuomo or Carolyn Mahoney, etc.
Yes, I desperately want to see another Kennedy in the Senate, now more than ever with the very real prospect that uncle Ted may not be around much longer. But that's not because of her last name, it's because of what that last name means. I want someone who will be an unrelenting liberal, the champion of my causes. Part of my love and respect for the senior Senator from Massachusetts certainly comes from who his brothers were, but it's so much more than that. Who was pushing harder for civil rights for African Americans harder than Ted (and his brothers) before it was the most politically expedient thing to do? Who has been a stronger fighter for the rights of immigrants and job opportunities for Latinos? Who has made their career about fighting, literally until his death, for universal health care as a basic human right? Who came out for gay rights and gay marriage long before most people would even acknowledge it was an issue? It was always Ted Kennedy...and it didn't matter that he wasn't black or wasn't Latino or wasn't poor or didn't need health care or wasn't gay. This is a family that is about standing up for what is right. And Caroline, by all accounts, holds the same views and can exert the same passion and influence. Caroline was opposed to the war in Iraq from the beginning, something that can't be said about either Schumer or Clinton, and to me is important. She supports gay marriage, not some half-assed attempt at civil unions, something that can't be said about Schumer or Clinton or most of the Democratic caucus, including the President-elect and Vice President-elect. I want someone in the Senate who will be a strong fighter for gay marriage, especially when Ted is no longer there.
But this is a political decision, so there's certainly political aspects to it. Caroline has an advantage here, too. First, in polling she is the clear favorite of both NY Democrats and NY voters. And you could say that's simply name recognition, but keep in mind she's in a field with Andrew Cuomo, state attorney general and son of a three-term governor with the same memorable last name. She also has the fundraising ability to run two back to back statewide campaigns on very short notice. She can win in 2010 and then again in 2012. That may be the most important consideration, as we can't lose that seat to a Giuliani or Pataki.
As for the idea that she's simply espewing a Palin mentality dressed up as someone who grew up in the White House, I disagree. Caroline is not someone who is trying to pit one faction of America (or New York) against another. She doesn't claim to be just a regular Joe. She's not. She's fucking royalty, but that doesn't mean she can't relate to the average American, and as her uncle has proven, it certainly doesn't mean she can't be their strongest advocate.
As for the meritocracy, America is to a degree a meritocracy, but we've got plenty of people who get far on their last name and work out great. It's not about simply having the name, it's also about what we know that name to mean. Electing someone simply because he was named Bush was a mistake, but I believe being a Kennedy is far better than being a Bush, and Caroline Kennedy is no George W. Bush.
Winning an election might be the smarter thing for her to have tried to do, but she's already too far into this. She wants to be a Senator, and apparently so do many New Yorkers. And I think we need her in the Senate, so I don't really care how she gets there.
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