America is a democratic republic, right? Well, sort of. We still have a semi-royal family, or actually several sets of semi-royal families in the U.S..
Take the Bushes... Pappa George H.W. Bush was President No. 41. His sons have since become the governors of two large states (Texas and Florida), with Dubbya moving onto become Pres. No. 43.
The Roosevelts (Teddy and F.D.R.) were cousins. Also, Teddy - who was Eleanor's uncle - became Franklin's uncle-in-law when FDR wed his fifth-cousin's daughter.
Of course, the most well-known (recent) American political family would have to be the Kennedys. Three of Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy's sons held/still hold prominent federal political positions (JFK: former Congressman, Senator, and President; Robert: former U.S. Attorney General and Senator; Ted: current U.S. Senator). Several members of the subsequent generation have gone on to become Congressmen, Leutenant Governors, and also to marry future politicians (think the Governator).
Now, the spotlight is on Caroline Kennedy, who has announced her interest in taking over Hillary Clinton's Senate seat when she leaves the Senate to become Obama's new Secretary of State.
I figure that it's not surprising that Caroline has decided that she would like to become a senator. However, even with her experience in political fundraising and activism, I don't think that she's qualified to be handed a position as a senator. State senator, maybe. Even possibly a U.S. representative. For a position as valuable as a place in the U.S. Senate, I think you should at least be elected to office (especially if you've never served in a position of public office before).
With all of the hoopla surrounding Governor Blagovich's abuse of power to appoint someone to fill Obama's soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat, I hope that more states will enact legislation that calls for special elections fo fill vacated positions.
This article talks about how not everyone thinks that Caroline Kennedy deserves to be given the vacant New York Senate seat. "[When the news that Kennedy was interested became public], Long Island Congressman Peter King was sitting down with members of his family and staff to plot out a possible run for that same Senate seat in 2010. "
"I have nothing against Caroline Kennedy," he said, "but the fact is that I don't believe anybody has a hereditary right to a senate seat from New York State."
Kennedy will most likely get the position, but I think it will be more about who she is than what she's personally accomplished (politically).
2 comments:
Charles Krauthammer on Fox "Special Report":
"t's not a question of experience. You often get inexperienced candidates who come out of nowhere. You get rich businessmen and the occasional actor or sports star.
It's a question of entitlement. The only thing she has that makes her somebody to even be considered for this office is pedigree. I mean, I hate to be a good government scold, but I would think that one of the reasons for the American experiment is to abolish the idea of government by pedigree.
Now, of course, we have in history-- the Adams and the Harrisons, the Rockefellers, the Kennedys and the Bushes. But it seems a bit of an epidemic these days.
First of all, you have a senate stacked with plutocrats as a result of our campaign finance laws, which give an enormous advantage to anyone who is a rich. They run, and the opponent has to grubbily raise money, and you end up with a sizable number of very rich people coming out of nowhere in the Senate.
And what you also have is what we saw… where John Kennedy had his college roommate, Ben Smith II, sit in his seat until two years later until Teddy was old enough and had reached the age of 30 when he inherited it.
And Biden has done exactly that in Delaware. He has gotten a family retainer appointed now to the Biden seat who will keep it warm and will not run again when in two years the Biden son, who is now in Iraq, will return and take that seat.
Look, Caroline Kennedy is a worthy socialite. But if she wants it, she should run and not accept an appointment. It is OK to run on pedigree, but do it in an election and not in an appointment."
Dear Rebecca -
Peter King would be a formidable Republican candidate in New York, although any Republican will face a long, expensive, uphill battle, regardless of who the Democratic nominee is.
When Guilliani dropped out of the 2000 NY Senate race, I had hoped that King would get the nod in the race against Mrs. Clinton. Instead, the opportunity was given to Rick Lazio, who was ill-prepared for the campaign. As I recall, during one of the debates, Lazio crossed the stage to get in front of Mrs. Clinton. He didn't quite come off as a bully, but at the very least he showed bad manners. If he ever had a chance of winning, it was gone after that debate.
I think someone like King, with deep roots in NY politics, would make a good candidate against Mrs. Kennedy (Shlossberg). He's tough and a good campaigner.
Cordially,
Charlie
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