Caroline Kennedy is lovely, but voters deserve to know where people stand on the issues.
Ulster Politics has been following the Caroline Kennedy for Senate story and the former First Daughter’s campaign is disappointing at best.
She is sweet. She is lovely. She has a pleasant demeanor. She has traveled to Syracuse and Rochester. OK, now what.
What are her solutions? Ms. Kennedy has genes of intelligence but if Daddy being President qualifies one for high office, what would our friends on the left (ok, and in the center, ok and on the right) say about the current President.
Voters deserve more than someone with a famous last name and the ability to hire top name political talent. Voters deserve a choice. Shelly Silver was quoted in (Ulster County native) Liz Benjamin’s blog today (http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2008/12/silver-kennedys-first-obligati.html) as saying we need a Senator who is loyal to Governor Paterson not Mayor Bloomberg.
Shelly Silver is wrong. We need a Senator who fights for New York and is willing to take a stand on the key issues, not sits on the sidelines and answers questions through a spokesman.
Governor Paterson would be wrong to appoint someone who campaigns via sound-bite and then only through a spokesperson. Caroline, we all like you, in fact many of us love you and loved your parents. BUT PLEASE, tell us where you stand. Talk to us – and visit not just with Democratic politicians as you have been doing but Republicans and Independents as well – we are people too.
Caroline Kennedy WOULD be a political heavyweight and like her or not, so is Hillary. We would like to see Caroline in the Senate. We need a political heavyweight who can have instant love from her fellow Senators (through her campaign and fundraising power), but please, we beg you, talk to us directly not through some spokesperson
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The Accidental Governor has so many strong choices from whom to choose, it would be foolish for him to drop a neophyte by parachute into the U.S. Senate. Some possible choices who have been mentioned are Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi and New School President Bob Kerrey (a former Senator from Nebraska who has lived in NY since 2001).
Personally, I think Gov. Paterson's smartest move would be to appoint AG Cuomo. Given that Paterson was not elected to his current position, he is far more prone to a challenge from within his own Party than previous Governor's had been. The strongest possible challenger would be Andrew Cuomo who is fairly open about his ambition to follow in his father's footsteps and eventually become Governor of New York.
By sending Cuomo to Washington, Paterson would make him one of 100 Senators and leave him with far fewer opportunities to create press for himself on a statewide level. At the same time, he makes it more likely that Cuomo's next political step will be to seek national office instead of the Governor's Mansion. Paterson would also be filling the seat with someone who has proven that he can win a majority in a statewaide election and who will, therefore, be better positioned to defend the seat when the next Senate election comes around.
Caroline Kennedy has zero experience, which is probably why Obama is pushing for her appointment. Birds of a feather and so forth. Kennedy has never had to run for higher office and is unproven in her ability to campaign and win. She has never had to horsetrade with other politicians to garner support for a political measure. She has not had to labor under arcane procedural rules. No matter how you slice it, her experience is lacking.
The only reasons she is under consideration are that she is a Kennedy, she supported Obama and she has been a relatively successful fundraiser (mostly thanks to being a Kennedy). Nowehere on the list is there any mention of her being an effective advocate for the people of the State of New York.
My favorite part of all this drama is that NO ONE, i mean NO ONE, except an addled old liberal woman from Woodstock, even mentions Hinchey's name. HA HA HA !!!!!
He is only a legend in his own mind .
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