December 18, 2008
I have met Caroline Kennedy only once, but indeed, I “met” her in another sense long ago, as most Americans my age did. There she is, frozen in time, in that little dress, or tugging her mother’s pearls. So sweet; so innocent.
Now, after raising children of her own and being out of the political limelight until she endorsed Barack Obama for president this year, Caroline Kennedy wants to be a senator from New York. Some say she isn’t qualified, but given the way too many senators operate, what defines qualifications these days?
Does she get breaks on home mortgages? Has she profited from a senate seat? Has she been involved in a scandal? How is she less qualified than Hillary Clinton when she won the seat? Hillary had never been elected before to public office.
There’s no doubt that Caroline Kennedy is a Kennedy liberal, but that’s not a disqualification for public office. Spouses of senators who have died in office have served and are serving in the Senate. So let’s debate issues with her and not the rest of it.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.
