When word broke that Joe Biden's chief of staff would replace the senator from Delaware when he becomes VP, nobody paid much attention, but that's not the case when it comes to seats recently warmed by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Today, news broke that Caroline Kennedy indeed wants the soon-to-be-free seat once filled by her uncle Bobby, and now occupied by Hillary. After wrestling with a decision to enter the public spotlight, Caroline appears ready to carry on the Kennedy dynasty.
Meanwhile, embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich still has the sole authority to appoint Barack Obama's replacement. While state legislators try to impeach the governor, another option gaining momentum includes holding a special election to let voters determine who should represent them. To find out how much a special election would cost, read more.
When it comes to letting voters decide, Illinois state clerks say not so fast — the election officials warn that there's no money to pay for the special election, which would cost between $13 and $16 million.
Do you think Gov. Paterson should pick Caroline Kennedy? And over in Illinois, is no cost too high when it comes to upholding democracy?
Lanvin
HTC
Laura Ashley
I haven't heard any amazingly better names floated for NY, and Caroline Kennedy would give the seat serious visibility and respect.
1What about Sarah Palin?
2Palin is not a Kennedy.
3Thank God for that.
4I don't know much about Caroline Kennedy, but she seems pretty stable.
And it really bothers me that Blagojevich still has the power to fill Obama's seat. I said it again on another thread... if you are in a position of political power and you get arrested, are awaiting trial, indicted... then there should be someone to take over for you interim.
5Trouble is, lawmakers would be phonying up indictments against each other all day to get people they didn't like out for the 'interim'. It seems like the honorable thing to do though (stepping aside until your mess is cleaned up, not phonying up indictments).
6Other than the fact that Caroline Kennedy has ABSOLUTELY no experience for the job other than her name, she seems perfectly fine.
7And again I really would hope that people don't rush to judgment on Blagojevich. I just wish people could be innocent until proven guilty and that the witch hunt would just calm down for a while.
8There are senators and congresspeople who were athletes, doctors, teachers, housewives and farmers before they decided to run: Tom Delay ran an exterminating company. Kennedy is a trained attorney, has written several books on civil rights issues, and is a very active fundraiser for schools in NY. She's got personal ties to politicians across the U.S. through the Kennedy Foundation. To say she has ABSOLUTELY no experience is simply incorrect.
9"There are senators and congresspeople who were athletes, doctors, teachers, housewives and farmers before they DECIDED TO RUN" That means the people were able to choose whether or not to vote for them. To just be appointed to a senate seat without running, I think it should be someone with political experience.
10haha lawyer, personal ties to politicians. Sounds like Hillary all over again. Maybe they should appoint Kennedy after all.
11"There are senators and congresspeople who were athletes, doctors, teachers, housewives and farmers before they decided to run: Tom Delay ran an exterminating company. "
That's true, but most of these people didn't start their political careers in the US Senate.
12If Caroline gets the nod, there will be 2 Kennedys in the Senate based on name recognition.
13Actually Dave, the athlete, doctor, teacher and farmer I referenced each did start their political career with a Senate seat - otherwise, it wouldn't have made sense for me to bring them up in this context.
14Palin + NYC?
Oh..that'd go over REAL good. Good enough for reality television.
15'Trouble is, lawmakers would be phonying up indictments against each other all day to get people they didn't like out for the 'interim'. It seems like the honorable thing to do though (stepping aside until your mess is cleaned up, not phonying up indictments).'
That's a good point. But what do you do for the people who won't do the honorable thing and step aside? I try to live by innocent until proven guilty... sometimes, I rush judgement (I'm human). But still, I just don't see how it's right for any person with political power to be able to work in their position with a 'mess' hanging around them... especially when that mess is directly related to the job they are performing. *sigh* I guess there really is no good way to go about it.
16There aren't enough real Americans in NYC. Duh.
17While the "good" or "moral" thing for Blagojevich to do would be to, at the very least, step aside and let his lieutenant take the reigns, he really doesn't have to do anything until he is either impeached and/or indicted for his possible crimes.
18Believe it or not, NY state has other cities besides NYC. Caroline Kennedy is as good as anyone, I suppose, considering that all of our senators forget that Western NY exists and focus all of their efforts on NYC and the surrounding areas.
Personally I think she'll get the job on name only, but it won't make a difference for us either way.
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