17th
Ouch. But, true!
In a carefully controlled strategy reminiscent of the vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin, aides to Caroline Kennedy interrupted her on Wednesday and whisked her away when she was asked what her qualifications are to be a United States senator.
In her first public appearance since letting it be known that wants to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ms. Kennedy emerged from a closed-door meeting with Matthew J. Driscoll, the mayor of Syracuse, where about a dozen reporters were waiting.
…as reporters asked why Ms. Kennedy was seeking the Senate seat and whether she was ready, she did not answer, then walked away, heading toward a waiting black sport-utility vehicle.
When one reporter asked what she would tell New Yorkers who question whether she has the qualifications for the job, Ms. Kennedy, 51, started to respond. But then an aide stopped her from saying more, and led her to the waiting vehicle.
“Hopefully I can come back and answer all those questions,” she called out as she got into the S.U.V.
If you really want this thing, Caroline, don’t fucking blow it with rookie mistakes like these. (Although we really WOULD like to know what qualifies you to rep the Empire State in the Senate. It’s only fair.)
In Appearance In Upstate NY, Kennedy Says Very Little (NY Times)
Props to the NYT for daring to call “Palin” on Caroline Kennedy.
Honestly I hate this Caroline Kennedy for Senate thing because of the brain-dead thinking on the part of everyone who loves the idea so much. It’s the ultimate use of politics to fulfill one’s own somewhat juvenile need for narrative and fantasy - something both Boomers and Gen-Y’ers are prone to (but not the ironically detached Gen X’ers), and which played such a big part in the Democratic primaries last year. Most non-politically-obsessed voters resist this thinking, because they know we don’t have the luxury to indulge it now.
That said, I’m not totally sure Caroline Kennedy would be an awful Senator. She could very possibly become a lawyerly workaholic like Hillary, mastering the dull details of worthy policy initiatives. But it’s hard to see her with any aptitude for the horse-trading needed to be effective the Senate (though she did have a pony once), nor visualize her as a “Sen. Pothole.”
