A fine and classy young lady named Caroline Kennedy -her father, John F. Kennedy was our 35th president, who was tragically assassinated in his first term- stated recently, that she was formally seeking to replace Hilary Clinton in the US senate. And just in case some of you are thinking that I am about to do a puff piece, in support of Caroline’s candidacy: you are wrong; I am somewhat ambivalent about her possible selection. New York’s governor David Paterson is on his own in that regard; he gets to choose Hilary’s temporary replacement. That’s his dilemma; and an interesting one too: given that in the past, he has benefited immensely from his familial background, connections and blood lines. His father was a very prominent political player in NYC and the first black Secretary of State for New York -with connections all up the quadoozle. Interestingly enough, David’s grandmother was born on the Caribbean island of Jamaica, and his grandfather was born in the Grenadines (I only mentioned this because I was also born in the Caribbean/lol).
I suspect that by now, most of my avid readers here know that I am not big on dynasties. I am not in favor of royalties either. In general, I think that those who tend to use their high-falutin blood-lines and/or connections in crassly advantageous ways, are nothing but opportunists, leeches and parasites who drain the blood of regular everyday people in rather self-serving ways. Furthermore, I think most of those who politically benefit from their bloodlines and/or connections are generally non-deserving. However, there are always a few exceptions: Caroline Kennedy may be one. I say “maybe”.
Most of those who accomplish great things do so through hard work, sacrifice, tenacity and overall brilliance; many others use their family money, connections, bloodlines, influence and such, to pump themselves up beyond mediocrity. Often times the price difference hits home: like with this current War in Iraq. In baseball terms, George W. Bush (#43) was born on second base: but he grinningly believed that “he had hit a double”. He was born with a gold spoon in his mouth and he humorously thought it was a natural gold tooth. He parlayed his familial links, lines and ties into all sorts of failed ventures including the presidency. Around sixty million foolish people (voters) went along -even when the evidence was glaring that this guy was a joker. Now here we are eight years later, with hundreds of thousands of lives lost for no real reason, fighting unnecessary wars on different fronts, an economy in shambles, our infrastructure crumbling, our education system in a deeper mess, our environment slowly decaying further, our military stretched across the globe, our standing in the world at its nadir, and so on and so on and so on. His approval rating is the lowest for a president in all the years of political polling; what does that tell you?
The point is this: we have to be careful about putting people in high positions just because their mommy, daddy, uncle, aunt, relative, whoever, held some similar position(s) before. It is not rational. DNA isn’t a guarantee for success. In politics, the rule of thumb is that when the spouses, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and other relatives of elected officials run to replace them in office, there is an alarming eighty percent winning clip. In other words four out of every five who attempt to do this succeed at it. All things being equal, that’s way too high. Look around New York City if you don’t trust my call on this. Sure, there is the occasional loss by some undeserving kin, of some should-not-have-been-elected-in-the-first-place official, but that’s an exception not the rule. And here I place the blame on the voters for being uninformed and politically underdeveloped. This may sound elitist and snobbish but I also think a significant number of voters aren’t too bright. Observe I said “significant number”: I didn’t say “most”.
Now before you jump on my last statement, do note that in NYC we have failed to graduate more than half of our high school seniors over the past fifty years; okay? Do you really think that this doesn’t hurt in us in many intangible ways too? As objective as I can try to be on this matter, let me say that voter-turnout, voter-registration, voter-participation and voter-choices/selections are all ways in which we hurt because of our failures in education. And like Forrest Gump, that’s all I will say about that right now.
When we select our leaders we need to look at their demeanor, educational accomplishments, credentials, work experience(s), organizational ties, vision, intellectual development, ability to articulate issues, policy ideas, their track record, character, morality, physical and mental health, their overall fitness, competence and more. The common failure in leadership is what brings us to this collective mess today; and too many voters -along with too many failed leaders- abdicate their responsibilities far too often: they make these bad choices as if it is all about comedy. It is not. People’s lives, livelihoods, self-respect, health and well-being are usually at stake.
If New York’s governor David Paterson were to select Caroline Kennedy as Hilary Clinton’s replacement in the US senate, it wouldn’t be a bad choice at all. Caroline is a fine young lady; no doubt. She easily fits most of the pre-selection criteria I just outlined. She has both plusses and minuses when all things are considered. And yet, I can also understand those who find it somewhat distasteful: the idea of another hand-me-down-senate-seat-for-the-Kennedy-family. History shows that we have been here before. So you see why I am ambivalent.
Still, I find it a bit disingenuous for Hilary Clinton supporters to be attacking Caroline, given that Hilary came here and got this very seat almost exactly the same way: because of her last name and not because of her personal and political accomplishments. My idea of a great replacement should be Tom Suozzi, and yet I don’t expect him to get it. Tom seems to be one of few electeds sincerely interested in political reform in this state. I like that. I like him.
I could live with the selection of Carolyn Maloney -who is being pushed by many of my political friends- she has served well during her years in the House of Representatives. I can say the same for Jerold Nadler and Anthony Weiner. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Jose Serrano, Bill Perkins, Hakeem Jeffries, Tish James and Eric Adams (despite last week’s faux-pas) are also electeds who deserve consideration; I am sure there are one or two others likewise worthy. What has been revealing to me is the fact that between blacks and Latinos, not one name has emerged that freezes up the process and stops all other potential candidates in their tracks. After so many years in office, there seems to be no minority official with the stature to dominate this selection process. What do you make of that; especially in a state where so many blacks and Hispanics dwell; and one which has never sent a black or Latino to the US senate? And again (like Forrest Gump): “that’s all I will say about that”.
I am not angry at feminists who argue that the replacement for Mrs. Clinton should be another female -given the low number of women in Congress. And I am not angry at minorities who argue for one of their own: this is normal for US politics; no big thing. And yet you get the feeling that if Caroline Kennedy is selected -and if she is even mildly successful in the senate- that she then emerges as the favorite for the US presidency in 2012: not Hilary Clinton. And maybe Hilary’s hard core supporters know this. Maybe all Caroline has to do is demonstrate that she isn’t as intellectually under-developed as Sarah Palin, and her presidential stock soars to incredible heights. Maybe this is the real reason why we are seeing all this push-back against Caroline’s selection.
There are many unknown aspects to Caroline Kennedy’s true political potential; if given an opportunity we may be impressed or disappointed: who knows; it could even be both. The fact that she could literally come from nowhere, to reach a place where she is even being considered for this big a political position, underscores the basic unfairness within segments of the American political system. I hope Paterson keeps his mouth shut and just do what he has to do. All this drama has the potential to hurt him in the long run. If Barack Obama calls to say “do Caroline”, then David just needs to select her and let the chips fall where they may. Sure there are others more deserving; just as in 2000. Back then Rep. Charlie Rangel and a few other elected democrats shoved Hilary Clinton down our throats didn’t they? That was almost ten years ago; Caroline is about ten years younger than Hilary. Mrs. Clinton has proven to be even smarter and brighter than we all imagined; maybe Caroline will follow suit. Who knows?
Stay tuned-in folks.