Caroline On My Mind

Seeing as I'm a politico, a New Yorker, and (as of late) a blogger, I'm thinking I'm almost obligated to post something about Caroline Kennedy likely becoming my next Senator. So here, adoring fans, is my one cent (seeing as Brandon offered up the other half of this blog's pennies on the issue a month ago, when an opinion was much timelier and appropriate).

I've gone back and forth on this quite a bit. When Kennedy first surfaced as a possible candidate, my first reaction was yes. I admire her family, from JFK all the way down to RFK Jr. In fact, before RFK Jr. dropped out of consideration, I was rather intrigued by the idea of him nabbing the seat. Then, after hitting the blogosphere and giving it a little more thought, I changed my mind. Nepotism at its finest... no thanks. But THEN I read Brandon's post and it got me thinking again. From a tactical (or is it strategic?) viewpoint, Kennedy is the only potential appointee that makes sense. Her name and fame will carry a lot of cache in Washington, especially in this administration, and we'll need some major sway from that seat with the big stimulus pie soon to be divvied up.

But, at the end of the day, I have to vote "nay" on Caroline. I totally understand the case for her, and I know naming anyone else up for consideration will likely only hurt New York in the short term. I just can't get over the nepotism thing. Bush, Hillary, Gore, Romney, Bayh, Biden's son in Delaware next year... I know it seems somewhat arbitrary to draw the line at Kennedy, but it has to be drawn somewhere. Ask yourself, Democrats: If a GOP governor floated the idea of appointing a Bush or Reagan (the bad kind) with no political experience to a Senate seat, would your reaction not be one of total disgust? Call it simplistic or naive, but I don't think it's good for democracy when surname trumps merit, no matter the personal political costs.

As for who SHOULD be appointed, you got me. I'm embarrassed to admit I don't know much about anyone else being mentioned besides Gillibrand, and even though she's far from ideal, I still prefer her over Kennedy. Any solid Democrat who's worked hard for this state in Congress would be a good start to me. I guess I need to research this further... probably should have thought of that before I posted, huh?