Clinton Camp Pours Scorn on Kennedy's Bid
Caroline Kennedy's Proposed Bid Draws Ire of Clintonites
Dec 17, 2008
Unrest among the Clinton camp was voiced after the man who will appoint the succeeding Senator, New York governor David Paterson, reported that Kennedy had intimated her interest in the position and was eager to prove her political credentials: “She would like at some point to let me know what her qualifications are.”
Clinton Supporters Still Bitter After Kennedy’s Obama Endorsement
Sceptical Clinton supporters were quick to question these qualifications and are believed still to be at loggerheads with the Kennedy clan, the ancien régime of American politics, after the family’s patriarch, Senator Edward Kennedy, announced his support for Obama during the Democratic primaries. Though Clinton is known to have taken what she and her husband perceived as treachery badly, she declined to comment on the situation and was reported to be focusing all her attention on her next job at the State Department, the government department she was given by President-elect Obama.
However, Hilary’s silence was the exception, not the rule, among the Clinton camp. One after another of the New York Senator’s supporters and aides obliged the media by announcing their disapprobation of the prospective bid. Stuart Applebaum, union leader, Robert Zimmerman, a Clinton fundraiser, and Anthony Weiner, congressman, voiced a chorus of distaste at the prospect of a Kennedy assuming the senatorial seat, claiming that such an appointment would smack of nepotism, especially when her want of political experience and her position on the lower rungs of American public life are taken in to account.
Caroline Kennedy – More Than Just Her Name
In addition to her household name, Ms Kennedy is best known for her philanthropic work, especially in the Arts and public Education, and, rather dubiously, for being the subject of the Neil Diamond song ‘Caroline’. Her supporters conceded she was very much a political unknown but as one her supporters, Rev Al Sharpton, countered, the same criticism might have been levelled at the present incumbent when she first ran in 2000.
A Clinton friend, apprised of these assertions by the Kennedy camp, was quick to dismiss them, citing the next Secretary of State’s time served as First Lady and the work she did prior to taking up her seat in the Senate: “Hilary allowed herself to be excoriated by political opponents. (She) is known as a fighter. What has Caroline Kennedy ever fought for?” the anonymous friend demanded.
Can Kennedy Fight the Clinton Machine and Other Candidates?
If Ms Kennedy is to win the seat she will need to call on all the favours her famous name can afford her. She has already begun a process of political lobbying and has taken on Josh Isay, a so-called ‘Democratic fixer’, to show her the campaigning ropes. He will no doubt have his hands full. In addition to neutralizing the poisonous Clinton political machine, he will have to fight off the competing candidacies of a number of current congressmen who covet the seat, including Joseph Crowley, Brian Higgins, and Kirsten Gillbrand. Andrew Cuomo, the NY attorney general, and Tom Suozzi, Nassau County executive, are also thought to be interested in the role.
