The Creating of Caroline

By know you have probably formed an opinion on who should (in many cases should NOT) fill the vacant seat of Hillary Clinton as one of the two senators from the state of New York. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John F. Kennedy, has asked Gov. David Paterson to include her name in the selection process. Other that are being looked at include New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, actress Fran Dreshcher (please no), George Meeks from Queens, and many others pushed by certain special interest groups. Chelsea Clinton, with all of her vast experience, is also being mentioned. However, the only two that are prominently mentioned are Kennedy and Cuomo, and it will most likely come down to those two with Meeks running a distant third.


So what are there qualifications you ask? Andrew Cuomo was elected to be the New York Attorney General in 2006 and previously served in President Clinton's cabinet in the Department of Housing and Urban Development where he served for nearly 8 years, 4 of them as the HUD secretary. He was born and raised in New York, went to school there and practiced law in NYC. His father is the former Governor of New York, Mario Cuomo. He has run unsuccesfully for governor and that is what led him to run for Attorney General in New York later.



Here are Caroline Kennedy's qualifications - (crickets chirping). She has lived in New York off and on for years. She is the mother of 3 children. Neil Diamond wrote a song about her called "Sweet Caroline." She graduated from Radcliffe and Columbia Law School. She is on the Board of Education in New York to raise private money for public schools although her own children attend an exclusive private school in Manhattan. She is on a couple of other boards as well. She was previously known as Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg but she prefers to go by Caroline Kennedy now. She has written a patriotic book. She has failed to vote in several elections since living in New York, including for the senate seat she would like to occupy. Here is her comment on that -

"I was really surprised and dismayed by my voting record," she told the Associated Press. "I'm glad it's been brought to my attention."

Not exactly stellar. Why would the voters of New York want this woman to represent them and their interests in the Senate? Hillary had much better qualifications, although she was a carpet-bagger. Caroline would not have to face an election for two more years. She has never held an elected position before. It feels like she is using the Kennedy name as justification for her entitlement to this position.

So what is Gov. Paterson thinking? Coincidentally, he is not really an elected official either, but rather appointed. He was the lieutenant governor to Eliot Spitzer before Spitzer resigned this year in the wake of a prostitution scandal. He faces an election in two years as well but he may not want to run so what is the risk of appointing an unpopular candidate to a Senate seat if it nets him a golden parachute after he is out of office?

Or might there be another reason that she is receiving so much attention and funding?

I think there is and it is not exactly apparent at first. Guess who is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations? Not Cuomo. Not Meeks. Caroline Kennedy is though. Hillary is a member of CFR as is Bill, as is Chuck Schumer, the other Senator from NY. CFR needs to replace Hillary with another member of the CFR and they have unlimited funding to do it.

I don't advocate or support either candidate but the appointment of Caroline Kennedy to a Senate seat for the state of New York seems imminent. If you are wondering how in the world Caroline Kennedy is being considered a serious candidate for a US Senate seat then you need to look at who she knows, who she is connected to, and what could she bring for the organizations she represents. Not her qualifications.