She's throwing her hat in the ring. Eve Fairbanks and I took on the problems with this in a BloggingHeads from last week:
Kevin Drum also puts it well when he says, "Rich and famous people already have a huge leg up when it comes to winning political office, but at least they still have to run and win. Appointing them instead so they can avoid the whole messy business of engaging in a campaign is just a little too Habsburgian for my taste. Needless to say, I've got nothing against Kennedy. But appointing her to the Senate just isn't the right thing to do." It's also, as I argue in the BloggingHeads, another example of our unwillingness to believe that "legislator" is an actual job with a particular skill set that requires expertise and understanding and experience to be effective. Caroline Kennedy is famous. She is even involved in politics. But she has never been a legislator. She knows nothing of parliamentary procedure, congressional negotiations, or constituent service. It would likely take her some time to get her sea legs and learn how to be effective. Meanwhile, there are plenty of long-serving legislators in New York politics, and in the New York delegation to Congress, that would love this seat and could step in on day one.
