Noam Scheiber has a suitably acid take on the "Caroline Kennedy: She's Just Like Us" school of profile. As he writes, "What's so tedious about these profiles is the preposterous lengths the interviewees go to to paint Caroline as: a.) just an ordinary working mom like you or the one you grew up with; or b.) someone who got into politics on the ground floor and worked their way up. (The old philanthropist-to-part-time-unpaid-fundraiser-to-campaign volunteer-to-senator path is so well-worn it's almost cliche.)" It's preposterous, yes, but also offensive. For a candidate to lay claim to the experiences of an ordinary working mom or a ground-level volunteer is not empty. It's a statement of perspective. It's a promise that the candidate knows what it's like to lack for child care, to see your paycheck fall short of the bills, to worry about health care, to walk among the grassroots, to be treated by politicians as alternately expendable and insignificant. That they are viscerally aware of these experiences. But these are not experiences Kennedy has had. She has not struggled with bills or with politicians refusing to shake her hand. She has not been treated as insignificant nor been unable to afford child care. She has not been changed by these moments. She has been changed by other moments. Rendered helpless by other experiences. Proven herself in other ways. But laying claim to a crucible that's not her own is terribly cynical, and on some level, dismissive of what working parents and faceless volunteers actually go through. THE PROBLEM WITH CAROLINE KENNEDY.
Noam Scheiber has a suitably acid take on the "Caroline Kennedy: She's Just Like Us" school of profile. As he writes, "What's so tedious about these profiles is the preposterous lengths the interviewees go to to paint Caroline as: a.) just an ordinary working mom like you or the one you grew up with; or b.) someone who got into politics on the ground floor and worked their way up. (The old philanthropist-to-part-time-unpaid-fundraiser-to-campaign volunteer-to-senator path is so well-worn it's almost cliche.)" It's preposterous, yes, but also offensive. For a candidate to lay claim to the experiences of an ordinary working mom or a ground-level volunteer is not empty. It's a statement of perspective. It's a promise that the candidate knows what it's like to lack for child care, to see your paycheck fall short of the bills, to worry about health care, to walk among the grassroots, to be treated by politicians as alternately expendable and insignificant. That they are viscerally aware of these experiences. But these are not experiences Kennedy has had. She has not struggled with bills or with politicians refusing to shake her hand. She has not been treated as insignificant nor been unable to afford child care. She has not been changed by these moments. She has been changed by other moments. Rendered helpless by other experiences. Proven herself in other ways. But laying claim to a crucible that's not her own is terribly cynical, and on some level, dismissive of what working parents and faceless volunteers actually go through. 
