Caroline Kennedy Is Qualified (But Who Isn't?)

[Warph]

Caroline Kennedy Is Qualified (But Who Isn't?)

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 12:13 PM

By: John Stossel     


If you Google "Caroline Kennedy Qualified," you'll come up with several hundred thousand Web hits. Site after site asks, "Is Caroline Kennedy Qualified?" — to hold Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, that is.

New York Republican Congressman Peter King, who wants the seat for himself, says there is "no evidence she's qualified" (http://tinyurl.com/a5m38g).

New York Democratic Congressman Gary Ackerman agrees: "She has name recognition, but so does J.Lo" (http://tinyurl.com/59jc6s).

Zillions of people may rant that Kennedy lacks what it takes to be a senator, but I think she's qualified.

After all, what do senators do?

In theory, they represent the people of the state that sent them to Washington. It's not at all clear what that means. It has something to do with serving the interests of those people rather than the senator's own interests. But it's long been debated whether a senator should do what constituents want or what the senator thinks they should want. Either way, we have a problem.

New York has 19 million people. We don't have the same interests, and we rarely want the same things. People are diverse. If some want a subsidy for their businesses or farms, and others object, how can the senator serve both groups? Polling is no help, because the minority would be unrepresented.

The idea of a senator truly representing the interests of 19 million people is ridiculous. (This holds for Wyoming's half-million as well.) We pretend that the politicians can do it, but no one really believes it. It's just a game we play. The reality is something else.

Indeed, Caroline Kennedy may be unqualified to be a U.S. senator if she is judged by the job's theoretical duties. But so is everyone else.

On the other hand, she is qualified to perform the actual duties of a senator.

Let's look at those:
Senators bloviate on anything and everything, regardless of whether they know what they are talking about. This is an important part of the job. Senators must sound as though they know how to create jobs, what kind of energy the United States should use, how to make healthcare affordable, how to plan education for 75 million unique children, and so on. They don't have to actually know how to do these things. They just have to sound as though they know. I know very little about Caroline Kennedy, but I'm sure she's capable of making pronouncements about how progressive polices will save the world.

Another thing senators do is cast votes to spend other people's money. Kennedy should be very good at that. She grew up in a wealthy family. Her stepfather was one of the richest men in the world. Now she's married to a wealthy businessman. She's had lots of practice spending other people's money. She'd be good at it.

All this is not to say the job of a senator is easy. Senators do have to figure out which interest groups to reward with subsidies, special tax breaks and pork in order to assure reelection. But with a little work, that's probably not hard to learn.
 
So by the standard of the actual duties of a U.S. senator, Caroline Kennedy is eminently qualified.

But, of course, so is virtually everyone else!

http://www.newsmax.com/stossel/Caroline_Kennedy_Hillary/2008/12/31/166737.html

[greatguns]

I see no reason for me to worry about whether Caroline Kennedy is qualified to be a New York Senator, as I live in Kansas.

[Diane Amberg]

Any Senator who goes through Delaware to get to work is up for our political scrutiny. After all, a great many of them spend time in Rehoboth Beach, the summer Capitol.

[W. Gray]

If this senator vacancy were to have happened two years from now, Hillary and Bill would probably be pushing for Chelsea's nomination saying that she was fully qualified and entitled to be appointed to the position. (Chelsea would be the minimum 30 by then)

[Catwoman]

In all reality, Ms. Clinton would be just as qualified to hold that senatorial position as Mrs. Schlossberg is...only Chelsea would have more recent DC experience.  I have to laugh...Sarah Palin, who has actual governmental experience...no matter how brief it might have been...was skewered by our mainstream press...yet Mrs. Schlossberg,  a woman whose only credential is her family name, has the press falling over themselves to line up to be the first to do some major posterier kissing.  God forbid we would expect the same qualifications out of our resident royalty as we expect out of our regular working stiffs.   

[pam]

Y'know in all reality Caroline Kennedy probably has enough real-life qualifications for being a senator. She has been dealing with beaurocrats and red-tape, schmoozing with "big-shots", dealing with egotistical people in charge for a big part of her life. She's a lot smarter than people give her credit for..

[Catwoman]

I agree...she's smart...smart enough to drop the use of her married name and go totally with the use of her maiden name.  Wonder how the ol' hubby feels about his name being dropped off like yesterday's laundry?

[pam]

I agree...she's smart...smart enough to drop the use of her married name and go totally with the use of her maiden name.  Wonder how the ol' hubby feels about his name being dropped off like yesterday's laundry?

Pretty common thing to do nowadays isnt it? I like Caroline Kennedy...she's not loud...she's been livin her life...but she speaks up when need be....

[Catwoman]

I agree with you, Pam...I like Mrs. Schlossberg as a person...She's very classy...I just don't see where she has any qualifications or training for the position that she is seeking. 

[pam]

LOL, the only qualifications to being a senator or representative when you get to nuts and bolts is running for the job,listening to your constituents, saying you will do what they want and getting them to elect you seriously what other qualifications do MOST of them have? Is there a college somewhere that offers a degree in senator? LOL!!