I know that I can be politically naive but for some reason I like rich-connected people in office sometimes. They already have the power and can tell some of the wankers to fuck off.
Much like Arnold in California.
I agree. And I positively loathe Palin for a variety of reasons.
There aren’t any.
Whether she’s legally eligible is distinct from whether she’s qualified.
Call me old-fashioned, but I just don’t think someone with no prior legislative experience should be appointed to the upper house of the federal legislature, any more than I think someone with no prior judicial experience should be appointed to the highest court in the land. Have people with no experience been appointed and done a fantastic job? Sure. I’d still rather they hadn’t been.
There are several more qualified people for the job, including people from upstate and downstate. There’s no reason to appoint Ms. Kennedy to the seat. If she wants to be a legislator, let her run for office.
I agree with Diogenes and others. If her name was Caroline Smith, she wouldn’t given a second thought. So she has a law degree. There are lots of people with law degrees–many of whom actually practice law–doesn’t make them qualified to be Senator. If I were a citizen of New York, I’d be mightily annoyed that she was even under consideration at all.
So we’ll be going from one unqualified social climber who never cared about New York to unqualified aristocracy who might actual care about New York. Fair trade IMV.
To get elected, you at least have to convince your constituents to vote for you. That doesn’t mean they’ll always make the wisest choice (clearly they don’t), but at least it is their CHOICE. An appointment requres a little higher standard because the voters don’t have a choice in it.
A hint? Did you become British lately?
-Joe
And if Bush Jr. was named Shrub would he ever have been president?
Qualified for office? Always an interesting question.
Yes, my first reaction to her expressing interest was “what has she done lately?” Seems like she desires to start at the top, no?
But I’m not sure I would consider her entirely unqualified. Don’t know that many elected offices could not be performed by just about any intelligent person with good character and judgment. As far as experience, politics is her family’s business. I suspect she might have learned more about politics and governance around the dinner table by the time she was in high school than one might gain from being mayor of a small town. Every aspect of CK’s life has prepared her for the realities and difficulties of being a national - if not international - figure. Which might well count for something. And although she was born with the proverbial silver spoon in her mouth, I have not heard a hint of her acting improperly in any respect.
Palin never impressed me as terribly intelligent. Sure, she was in a tough position, and a lot of my perception may be due to disliking her politics/philosophy. But in a lot of her actions I saw what I interpreted as a lack of common sense. Yes, she obviously was smart enough to position herself to be elected governor and be nominated for VP. But, as others have noted, so did Blago and W.
Also, the Kennedy name carries some cachet. For whatever reason, I think it could benefit NY and the Dem party to have another Kennedy in the Senate.
So I’m not offended by her interest or the possibility of her being selected.
You don’t have to be qualified to be a N.Y. Senator. You just need the right bloodlines.
Hey, if it’s a choice between Caroline Kennedy inheriting the Senate job and R.F.K. Junior bringing his conspiracy theories into a high government post, we’re better off with Caroline.
Yeah, the rich are never corrupt. And if more politicians had military experience they wouldn’t get into dumb wars.
I don’t know why people believe these kinds of things. “Naive” doesn’t begin to cover it.
Not sure why Palin is being brought into this. She was a sitting Govenor who ran for office and lost. Kennedy has zero experience and other than rasing money for Obama is no more qualified that any other wealthy socialite.
This reeks. This is a slap in the face to everyone who believes in promotions based on merit, and to everyone who ever told their kid, “You don’t have to be royalty in America, you can work your way to the top.”
Not to disparage whatever her accomplishments are, but she has paid no dues and the ONLY reason anyone thought of her for this seat is that her daddy was president. You’d think the last eight years would have wiped all that kind of thinking of the table, but no.
My only consolation is that John John killed himself in a stupidity accident and isn’t around to get foisted off on the public the way Dubya was.
Err…JFK was in the military during most of WWII (commander of PT-109 among other things).
I think you might’ve missed my point. 
I got over it in 2000 when nepotism took that very seat.
Hilary was elected, not appointed. She won it fair and square.
:rolleyes: Right. That election was a joke. I am not accusing her fo cheating or anything, just saying it wasn’t much of an election. When Giuliani pulled out of the election her victory was certain.
Not to mention using Bill’s muscle in the Democratic Party to squelch any possible Primary election challenge.
mswas I believe you have a point. Certainly Lazio did a Hell of a lot better than anyone expected when he got 43% of the vote.
The problem I have with opposing Caroline Kennedy is that while I don’t think her accomplishments are such that normally she would be a logical fit for a Senate seat, compared to most of the current crop of NY state politicians she’s got a huge advantage: She’s not tied to the mess in Albany. She’s not a State Assemblywoman, nor a State Senator. I have said time and time again, my first priority for filling this seat is that no one involved with the NY state legislature should be allowed to advance to greater responsibilities when they have proven they cannot meet their current responsibilities.
As such I’ve really only seen two names mentioned whom I would consider: Andrew Cuomo and Caroline Kennedy. I believe Andrew Cuomo is the better choice, not least of the reasons being his continuing commitment to public service work, both in administration positions, and in elected positions. He’s shown himself capable, of working in the public sector, and is doing a good job as Attorney General.
But, having said all that - if Caroline Kennedy is named to the seat, I won’t kick and scream. Nor will I feel screwed. She’s still got more going for her than anyone I can name besides Andrew Cuomo. (Though I’ll admit that’s damning with faint praise.)