Yes, there has been a lot of criticism directed at Caroline Kennedy, who is hoping to be appointed to the soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat in New York. A lot of people point to her family, her last name, and that she has this sense of "entitlement." Dynasty was a word thrown around a lot.
We talked about this in depth in a Dec. 18 posting. And it's not just about Caroline Kennedy. How did Lisa Murkowski come to the Senate? What about Bayh and Dodd and Pryor and those other senators whose fathers served before them? Heck, what about George W. Bush?
But now it's gone even further.
Tonight, on the season premiere of Fox's American Idol, the new judge will be Kara DioGuardi.
Yes, that's right. The daughter of former Rep. Joe DioGuardi (R-NY). How else do you explain she got her job?
This entitlement stuff has now gotten out of control.
5:53 PM ET | 01-13-2009 | permalink
Jan. 13, 1978:
Sen. Hubert Humphrey (D-Minn.), a former vice president and the Democratic nominee for president in 1968, died of cancer at age 66.
In 1948, as mayor of Minneapolis and a candidate for the Senate, he gave an electrifying speech at the Democratic National Convention on civil rights that caused Southerners, including South Carolina Gov. Strom Thurmond, to walk out and form their own party. That year he unseated GOP Sen. Joseph Ball; he was re-elected in '54 and '60. Humphrey also sought his party's presidential nomination in 1960, losing out to Sen. John F. Kennedy.
He became President Lyndon Johnson's running mate in the 1964 election, and the ticket went on to win in a landslide. When LBJ decided in late March of 1968 against seeking re-election, Humphrey declared his own candidacy. He entered no primaries but won the nomination at a riotous convention that summer in Chicago. With his party split in two over the Vietnam War, he lost the 1968 presidential election to Republican Richard Nixon.
Humphrey came back to the Senate in 1970, winning the seat vacated by fellow Democrat Eugene McCarthy. He again tried for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972, losing out to Sen. George McGovern. After his death at his Waverly, Minn., home, his body was flown to Washington, where an estimated 60,000 people came to pay their respects.
Today in Campaign History is a daily feature on Political Junkie.
3:00 PM ET | 01-13-2009 | permalink
As Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton goes through the motions of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today, there is still no word on whom New York Gov. David Paterson will name to succeed her.
Paterson met with Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, on Saturday, and came away "impressed," according to an interview with the New York Daily News published today. And while he refused to declare anyone the "front-runner" for the seat, he did say about Kennedy, "She didn't eliminate herself in the meeting."
Faint praise indeed.
Paterson said he has now interviewed 15 people for the job. While he won't give names, those also thought to be on the Senate wannabe list include state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, and Reps. Kirsten Gillibrand, Steve Israel and Carolyn Maloney.
My prediction from the outset has been Gillibrand. But I have no idea where things stand now.
I've Got A Secret. Several good government groups have decried Paterson's refusal to reveal either the names of those he has spoken to or the answers these candidates gave to a questionnaire he sent to each of them. The governor says the list of candidates is "personal." The Associated Press' Michael Gormley quotes a disappointed Barbara Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters as saying, "The law is on his side as far as whether he has to do any of this with transparency. But good government is not on his side here."
Wanna Be A Senator? Here's the questionnaire Paterson sent out to the hopefuls. Good luck!
Isn't That Special. New York state Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco wants Paterson to call for a special election to resolve the issue, rather than fill the seat via appointment. Tedisco has, if nothing else, a great sense of humor.
Not Happy. Julie Sells of Cincinnati sent the following note:
With regards to the Jan. 7 Talk of the Nation program in which you appeared, it was very disappointing to hear your cutting remarks about Caroline Kennedy. I could not begin to tell you how many people I know or have met who insert "you know" into their conversations. It's always hard to hear ourselves but I probably say it too without realizing it. Please listen to that interview and count the number of times you say "uh" or "ummmm." Isnt that the same? It certainly was with Barack Obama. His campaign coordinators even hired a speech therapist to help him prior to some of the debates. ...
I really don't like ever to criticize someone for their speech difficulties and wish you would show more courtesy to others as well since after all few of us speak perfectly. ...
I think the media has been really nasty in the way [Caroline] has been treated. It should be about a person's qualifications, not the deficiencies in the way they speak. A big fat zero to NPR on this one!
Julie, I respect your argument but I'm not sure I agree with your conclusions -- except for your point that it should be about a person's qualifications. I think the media have been far more tolerant in their coverage of Kennedy than they have with anyone else with similarly limited qualifications or campaign abilities.
As for her Valley Girl-esque way of talking, it's hardly just Neal Conan and I who have been critical or sarcastic. Here's the New York Times' Michael Barbaro's account of Caroline's linguistic abilities:
In her pursuit of a Senate seat, Ms. Kennedy has raised eyebrows with her penchant for what are known, informally in language circles, as filler words.
Ms. Kennedy has liberally sprinkled her interviews with "you know" and "um," as can be seen in transcripts posted on newspaper Web sites.
When asked recently by New York Times reporters about a potential rival for the Senate seat, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, she responded:
"I'm, you know, actually, Andrew Cuomo is someone I've known for many, many years, and we've talked, you know, throughout this process, so, you know, we have a really good relationship and I admire the work he's doing now and what he's done."
That's three "you knows," for those keeping score.
And the leading paragraph in a recent Maureen Dowd column in the Times went as follows:
Ask not, you know, what your country can, like, do for you. Ask what you, um, can, you know, do for your country.
I am not saying that just because Maureen Dowd does it, NPR should do it. There is a well-documented history of snarky comments made by Ms. Dowd that we don't really need to emulate. But that's not the point. Sure, you can count all the times I say "uh" and "ummm." Of course, I'm not seeking appointment to the U.S. Senate. And let's keep in mind the media have mocked the language skills of George Bush, pere and fils, for years.
I'm just saying, and have been saying, that with all those out there who could be appointed to the seat, Caroline Kennedy seems to have less of an argument than many of the others. I'm sorry if you thought our having fun with Ms. Kennedy's speech patterns was, you know, over the top.
2:15 PM ET | 01-13-2009 | permalink
Sen. John Kerry, the new chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, talked about the historical nature of this morning's hearings that will ultimately end up with the confirmation of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. The previous committee chair, Joe Biden, is now vice president-elect. Another committee member, Barack Obama, is the president-elect.
And, lest anyone think the path to the top is easy, Kerry reminded everyone who was sitting in the room that Clinton, Chris Dodd, Dick Lugar and he are all examples of those who tried for the brass ring and failed.
One major piece of history left unsaid: if confirmed, Clinton would be the nation's first female secretary of state since Condoleezza Rice.
Check out today's New York Times' Op-Ed page for a series of questions by 10 experts that they would like Clinton to answer at her confirmation hearing.
For the record, Clinton came to the hearing accompanied by her daughter, Chelsea, but not by her husband, the former president. Bill Clinton's foundation and its taking of foreign donations was the subject of the opening statement by ranking Republican Dick Lugar.
More to come.
9:39 AM ET | 01-13-2009 | permalink