# I don't think that Caroline Kennedy is qualified for the NY Senate seat. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 16, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436 "2008-12-16T18:52:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/81 "2008-12-17T19:42:29Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > Everyone has to start somewhere. What experience did Palin have in government before being elected governor? I know, the key to you is “elected.” But “elected” isn’t an option right now, and when it is time to run, she will have experience if she’s chosen. > . She was a mayor. She went through a primary and became a govenor which a budget significantly larger than that of, let’s say, Delaware. Kennedy has done no such thing. She has no elected representative experience at all. None. > [@](#): > > What does your one week a month have to do with Caroline Kennedy’s qualifications? I agree that Palin’s presence in this thread is puzzling and irrelevant, though what were her qualifications to be Governor? Just as flimsy as Kennedy’s to be Senator. We elect people all the time with little or no previous experience in government, often because they have face recognition value and a big war chest (Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan as governors for instance). While you might find the practice overall distasteful, as I do, it doesn’t necessarily mean the person in question is going to fail at her job. Glad you agree that Palin being brought into this isn’t relevant (and rather odd). Both Regan and Arnold ran for office. They put the fact that they didn’t have the experience to the voters. > [@](#): > > How exactly am I painting her, and what do you think she is? I think she’s a wealthy person from a famous family who’s highly educated, involved in public service, and has lived in NY for decades. There are more qualified candidates, and I’d prefer one of those to her, but if she gets chosen, it won’t be an offensive travesty of sense or justice either Well if you admit that there are more qualified candidates then I’m not sure what we are arguing about. My mistake, I think I assumed you were saying that she’s the best candidate so that’s an error on my part. With regard to her credentials, as an attorney I’ve actually published more than she has. It’s not that difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/82 "2008-12-17T20:04:33Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > City councilmember, and two terms as mayor. All elected offices, FTR. > > [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin). > Well, only if 3 = 0. OK, Palin’s qualifications were not as flimsy based on her other government jobs. I do think Kennedy has qualifications that Palin lacked despite her time as Mayor of Wasilla, but I don’t know why Palin is being dragged into this at all, really. There are better examples of people obtaining high elected office with zero government experience. Reagan and Schwarzeneggar, as I said before. > [@Lochdale](#): > > Both Regan and Arnold ran for office. They put the fact that they didn’t have the experience to the voters. You keep saying this, as if Kennedy is trying to dodge being elected to this office. Being elected is not an option right now. This is no fault of Kennedy’s. If she gets appointed, she will have to prove herself in order to get re-elected. The Democrats do not want to put someone in there who will be unseated by a Republican, so they should choose wisely. Kennedy could well do fine, but I’d rather see someone more qualified in the job. Thus, you and are I pretty much in agreement here. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/83 "2008-12-17T20:09:05Z")
[NOT a promising start here.](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/nyregion/18upstate.html?hp) > [@](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/84 "2008-12-17T20:36:22Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln… Hey, _I_ liked it! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/85 "2008-12-17T21:41:44Z")
Unless you have held elected Office, you are not qualified, IMHO. Again- How about Koch? or Dinkins? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/86 "2008-12-17T22:37:36Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [NOT a promising start here.](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/nyregion/18upstate.html?hp) _wince_ Can we end this farce. Please? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/87 "2008-12-17T22:42:39Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > You keep saying this, as if Kennedy is trying to dodge being elected to this office. Being elected is not an option right now. This is no fault of Kennedy’s. Of course it’s her 'fault". She could wait for an open seat, and run for election. Then the electorate could decide if she was qualified despite her lack of experience. Just like Reagan and Schwarzenegger. What she seems to be hoping for is to slide in thru the back door, and then have all the advantages of incumbency the first time she has to face a campaign, with opponents and everything. The unfortunate thing about this is that it smacks of the sort of entitlement that gets objected to in America. There is no divine right of Kennedys in the US of A, Teddy is circling the drain, Camelot is as dead as Elvis and a poet with a law degree and a famous last name wants to be one of the hundred most powerful people in the nation without even giving her state a chance to have a good look at her pasty white ass. Hilary got the seat because of her last name. Now Caroline wants a twofer. What’s next, Jeb Bush for President? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/88 "2008-12-17T22:46:08Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Hilary got the seat because of her last name. Hilary got the seat because _the voters chose her_. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/89 "2008-12-17T22:53:49Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Hardly. Maybe she’d be an executive at Wal Mart today instead of Senator without him. He’s far more charming and intelligent than she is. Sure, but she was marrying below her station, not above it, which is what you seemed to be implying when you called her a social climber. She could hardly have known her aw-shucks husband was going to become a Governor, much less President. > [@](#): > > It’s endemic to politics period. Not really. Politicians’ kids in the UK generally don’t become politicians themselves. If they do make headlines on their own, it’s generally through sex scandals and the like. I can’t think of anywhere other than India and Italy where nepotism (in elected politics) is the norm, other than here. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/90 "2008-12-17T23:02:00Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Of course it’s her 'fault". Of course it’s not her “fault.” Being elected is not an option, so she’s applying for the job. If there’d be any fault to assign here, it would be to the person who picks her. > [@](#): > > She could wait for an open seat, and run for election. Then the electorate could decide if she was qualified despite her lack of experience. Just like Reagan and Schwarzenegger. She still has to run when her appointed term is up. If she sucks, then she won’t get re-elected, which will be bad for Democrats. Thus, if you think she is not qualified and won’t be good, maybe you’d be applauding the choice. > [@](#): > > The unfortunate thing about this is that it smacks of the sort of entitlement that gets objected to in America. There is no divine right of Kennedys in the US of A, Teddy is circling the drain, Camelot is as dead as Elvis and a poet with a law degree and a famous last name wants to be one of the hundred most powerful people in the nation without even giving her state a chance to have a good look at her pasty white ass. Hey, I’m not endorsing her candidacy. I’m not a big fan of nepotism and legacies either. > [@](#): > > Hilary got the seat because of her last name. Now Caroline wants a twofer. What’s next, Jeb Bush for President? Despite the fact that I’m most definitely NOT a Hillary fan, I have to object to this. Like Reagan and Schwarzeneggar, Hillary ran and won, fair and square. If you don’t have a problem with them being chosen because they were movie stars, I don’t see how you can have a problem with her being elected because she was Bill’s wife (if indeed that’s why New Yorkers voted for her-- arguable). You could also say the same about George Bush being elected Governor of Texas, couldn’t you? I think he failed to be elected to Congress and that was his only prior governmental experience before becoming governor. As long as your objections to Hillary are also applied to Republican candidates with a similar lack of experience and prior celebrity, then we are in agreement. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/91 "2008-12-17T23:25:53Z")
There are precedents in the world for relatives being appointed to an office that is vacated. No, I’m not thinking of Bill. He’s doing too much good elsewhere. What about Chelsea ? She’s got impressive credentials like a Master’s degree from Oxford in International Relations and she’s a bona fide New York resident. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/92 "2008-12-17T23:33:06Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > What about Chelsea ? She’s got impressive credentials like a Master’s degree from Oxford in International Relations and she’s a bona fide New York resident. Too young. The Constitution requires senators be at least 30, and she’s 28. While Kennedy’s merits are debatable, Chelsea is definitely not qualified. Hillary Clinton was seen decades ago as somebody with a bright political future if she wanted it. She didn’t magically gain one when she married Bill. She did take advantage of her name recognition in 2000, obviously. In case this wasn’t clear: all the appointee gets is a minor head start in office. The special election will be in November 2010, and then the winner of that election will have to run again in November 2012, which would’ve been the next scheduled election were Clinton not leaving. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/93 "2008-12-17T23:46:47Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Unless you have held elected Office, you are not qualified, IMHO. > > Again- How about Koch? or Dinkins? Ah. So Jim Webb and Elizabeth Dole weren’t qualified? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/94 "2008-12-17T23:49:44Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Hey, _I_ liked it! > > 😉 I didn’t say I didn’t like it. I said it would have been better if it had followed the form of a limerick more closely, not that it would have been good if it had done so. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/95 "2008-12-18T00:31:07Z")
No offense intended. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/96 "2008-12-18T00:32:00Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > For those who don’t know, Caroline Kennedy (daughter of Jackie and JFK, sister of John-John) is actively seeking the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton. I have nothing against her on a personal level, and generally have a good impression of her based on what little I know about her, but she’s not qualified for this seat. I think [NY Times piece](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/nyregion/16qualifications.html?hp) gets it right. > > Now, on the plus side, she does have a law degree and she hasn’t done absolutely nothing – she has been involved in a number of public causes as a civilian, and she has had somewhat of an inside view of the Democratic Party machine. But I still don’t think she’s don’t think she’s earned a right to just be handed a Senate seat without campaigning. I think there is more than a hint of name entitlement here, and I also think that if her name were Reagan or Bush, that Democrats would be having conniptions. > > As much as it pains me to say this, I think Caroline Kennedy is probably less qualified to hold a major political office than Sarah Palin. > > Looking at this objectively and without partisan sentiment, I think that if CK wants a major political office, she needs to do what Hillary did – go out and run for it properly and earn it. > > Is there anyone who disagrees? I agree 100%. And honestly, this post, for what little it means to you, makes me think that you aren’t an absolute whore to all things liberal. Good job with the independent thinking 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/97 "2008-12-18T05:21:27Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > There once was a Kennedy scion > Whose uncle was quite the old lion > An appointment she sought > To the Senate, hard-fought; > Will Andrew C. just be left cryin’? No reaction to my limerick? Sheesh. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/98 "2008-12-18T05:33:31Z")
Some works of art are so magnificient that they stand as their own commendation. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/99 "2008-12-18T07:13:55Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > **Elendil’s Heir** , I’d feel a lot less apprehensive if she’d actually talked to anyone upstate. > > Yeah, it’s provincialism. I still claim that it’s at least as valid a concern as wanting to specify the plumbing on the new Senator. I don’t think it’s provincialism. Hillary Clinton really studied up on the issues for every single New York county, and it showed. Carrying off a credible listening tour - that is demonstrating your familiarity with all the small-bore issues of the state - shouldn’t be dismissed, IMHO. There are no higher qualifications for a freshman Senator than intelligence, hard work and a willingness to engage with all your constituents. I have different views for executive positions. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2008, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436/100 "2008-12-18T08:25:00Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > No reaction to my limerick? Sheesh. :mad: Okay. Too much filler. In a limerick, any time you’re tempted to use the words “quite” or “just” to fill out a line, re-write the line. If you need both of them in a five-line poem, start the poem over again from scratch. That help? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-think-that-caroline-kennedy-is-qualified-for-the-ny-senate-seat/477436.md?page=6)