Caroline as Senator
As the debate whether Gov. David Paterson should appoint Caroline Kennedy as the next U.S. Senator heats up, many questions arise about her qualifications.
But to bluntly oversimplify her qualifications of philanthropy and law into one word, it would be her name.
As a Kennedy she would have the ability to raise money and awareness for the issues of New York State.
The fact that Kennedy has not had to pay her “political dues” does not really concern me.
The real questions I would like to know are not about her qualifications, but rather her intentions.
I want to know, why she has decided at this moment to enter politics, what her agenda would focus on as Senator, and how she plans on helping the economically depressed and bleak, upstate New York.
At the moment the debate is especially frustrating because Kennedy has refused interviews and comments with reporters.
All questions remain unanswered. (But since I am originally from Upstate New York the last question holds a special weight in my heart.)
Many critics like the Mayor of Buffalo think Kennedy will have a rough time in the upstate region. In the New York Times article linked above he said, “I think upstaters are going to want an upstater on the ticket.”
I am sorry, but I have to disagree with the Mayor.
Upstaters indulge in their fair share of pipe dreams, but we are not stupid and definitely NOT optimistic.
In my lifetime I have never seen a Senator from Upstate New York and clearly know where we stand in the landscape of New York State politics.
Not to mention the enormous population gap between upstate and downstate makes it nearly impossible for an upstate candidate to become Senator.
Sure upstaters may want someone from the region on the ticket, but we of all people know, it won’t happen.
My point to add to the Kennedy for Senator debate is that whomever Gov. Paterson appoints to the seat, if Sen. Hillary Clinton is confirmed of course, should face the same upstate criticism and “battle” as Kennedy.
So I can’t help but wonder why the “knowing upstate” issue is focused mostly around her, and not the other contenders for the seat.
Maybe the real dilemma for upstaters is: Take a chance on someone we don’t know, who may or may not do nothing, or take a chance on someone we know, who will do nothing.