Book: Kennedy ended Senate bid to please her kids

May 5, 2009

A new book paints a picture of an intense, angry Caroline Kennedy bent on extending her family’s legacy in the U.S. Senate only to end her quest when her kids no longer recognized their cool, composed mother.
The book is by Edward Klein, a best-seller who’s been accused of using of hearsay in other biographies.
"Ted Kennedy: The Dream That Never Dies," is being excerpted in Vanity Fair. It states Caroline Kennedy told New York Gov. David Paterson she was withdrawing from consideration for the Senate seat because her kids and husband felt she was becoming a different person.
The book also says she was angry when Paterson didn’t immediately name her to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Senate.
Kennedy spokesmen declined to comment Tuesday.

Go to:

http://news.bostonherald.com/entertainment/books/view/2009_05_05_Book:_Kennedy_ended_Senate_bid_to_please_her_kids/

Caroline Kennedy Reportedly Won't Be U.S. Ambassador To Vatican

The luck of the Irish hasn't been with Caroline Kennedy's mid-life political aspirations as news emerges that the daughter of slain President Jack F. Kennedy might have been rebuffed by the Holy See in her bid to become U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican.
The Catholic mother of two daughters and a son has spent much of her life out of the limelight that surrounds her family that has always had a large number of politicians. Yet Kennedy, who has spent years working for charities, was never known for being politically active. That is until last year when her children persuaded her to support and campaign for Barack Obama's presidential bid.
Since President Obama's election, Kennedy has let it be known that she wanted a political role. She was reportedly considered for nomination to the Senate seat U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vacated, but Caroline pulled out her name from consideration for personal reasons.
Obama was reportedly considering Kennedy for the ambassador post to the Vatican. However, the Vatican has made it plain that they don't like Obama's stand on stem cell research and abortion. That means the Holy See would be less than comfortable with Kennedy serving as ambassador because she is pro-choice.
Kennedy is the great, great-granddaughter of Irish Catholic immigrants, her father was the nation's 35th president, many of her other relatives have held political office, including her uncle Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), who is known as the Lion of the Senate.

Go to: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7014769019

Vatican rejects Kennedy diplomat role

ITALIAN MEDIA sources last weekend reported that the Holy See has rejected the possible appointment of Caroline Kennedy as US Ambassador to the Vatican.
Milan-based daily Il Giornale, owned by the family of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, said that the Vatican has rejected three possible choices by the Obama government for the post of US ambassador, including that of Caroline Kennedy, daughter of John F Kennedy.
Il Giornale claims that the appointment of a new US ambassador to succeed Mary Ann Glendon has proved difficult because of the “strained” relations between the White House and the Holy See, which has been less than enamoured of Barack Obama’s public support for both abortion and stem cell research.
US media reports suggested that Ms Kennedy had originally been proposed to Mr Obama for the job by Democratic senator John Kerry by way of reward for her support for the president during last year’s election campaign.
However, one former US ambassador to the Vatican, Ray Flynn, speaking to the Boston Herald last week, argued that Ms Kennedy’s support for abortion made her an unsuitable choice.
“It’s imperative, it’s essential that the person who represents us to the Holy See be a person who has pro-life values,” he said.
“She said she was pro-choice. I don’t assume she’s going to change that, which is problematic.”
The White House has refused to comment, while senior Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi yesterday denied that the Holy See had blocked any potential appointments, saying that no proposals for the job had yet been made to the Vatican.

Go to:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0413/1224244556984.html

Caroline Kennedy-to-Vatican rumor sparks Catholic outrage

Reaction to Caroline Kennedy’s potential appointment as U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican continued to sour yesterday as one conservative Catholic group called the possible nomination “a calculated insult to the Holy See.”
“It’s inappropriate to appoint someone who pretends to be a Catholic but rejects the fundamental teachings of the Church,” said C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Massachusetts Catholic Action League.
Buzz continued unabated yesterday that Kennedy was under consideration by President Obama for the post, despite the fact she is pro-choice. U.S. Catholic officials are closely scrutinizing the appointment.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Raymond L. Flynn told the Herald on Wednesday the strong pro-choice stance taken by JFK’s daughter is “problematic,” and giving her the Vatican appointment would be “a mistake.”
Attempts to reach Caroline Kennedy have been unsuccessful, and a spokeswoman from U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s office declined to comment.
According to Italian publications, U.S. Sen. John Kerry has asked Obama to consider Caroline Kennedy for the ambassadorship. Kerry’s office declined to comment.
Kennedy has laid low since her failed bid to win appointment to Hillary Clinton’s New York Senate seat earlier this year.

Go to:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view.bg?articleid=1164688

Ted Kennedy & Co. throw support behind Red Sox

It was a Kennedy family affair yesterday at Fenway Park [map], where a smiling Sen. Ted Kennedy braved the blustery Red Sox [team stats] opener in a luxury box over home plate with a pack of his nearest and dearest.
The senior senator, who earlier tossed out the ceremonial first pitch to Sox legend Jim Rice, was bundled up in his red team jacket as he took in the Olde Towne Team’s 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays with his wife, Vicki, son U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, niece Caroline Kennedy and grandkids Ted Kennedy III, 11, Grace Allen, 14, and Max Allen, 12.
Vicki told us that Ted Jr. and his wife, Kiki, would have made the trip, too, if they weren’t in Colorado with their daughter, Kiley, 14, who is competing in the USASA Nationals snowboard competition on Copper Mountain . (Kiley rides for Vermont’s Mount Mansfield Snowboard Club .)
“She won a first and a third,” gushed Kiley’s step-gran, who also took in the game with Mayor Tom Menino .
During the fourth inning, team owners John Henry and Tom Werner appeared in Ted’s box to present him with a framed photo of his Opening Day pitch. Wow, those boys work fast!
Sadly - for the Track - the team took a pass on throwing an Opening Day pregame sushi-and-hot dog ’do in the Jordan’s Third Base Deck for austerity reasons this year. So scrounging up Boston notables was a helluva task! Many, we hear, did all their season opener, ahem, celebrating on Monday and couldn’t take another day off. (Et tu, Greg Hill?)
So with the exception of the Kennedy clan, the Boston boldfacers we saw at the old ballyard were the same ol, same ol’ crowd.

(...)

Go to:

http://news.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view/2009_04_08_main_track_story/srvc=home&position=also

Caroline Kennedy withdraws bid for US Senate seat

January 22, 2009

Caroline Kennedy announced early today that she was withdrawing from consideration for the vacant US Senate seat in New York, startling the political world after weeks in which she was considered a top contender for the post.
Yesterday, Kennedy called Governor David A. Paterson, who will choose a successor to former Senator Hillary Clinton, to inform him that she was no longer interested in the post.
"I informed Gov. Paterson today that for personal reasons I am withdrawing my name from consideration for the United States Senate," Kennedy said in a statement released by her public relations firm.
A person told of her decision said that Kennedy's concerns about the health of her uncle, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, prompted her to withdraw. Senator Kennedy, who suffers from brain cancer, was hospitalized after suffering a seizure after the inauguration of Barack Obama Tuesday. He was released yesterday.
Caroline Kennedy believed that the job was hers if she would accept it, the person said, but aides to Paterson would not comment on whether that was true.
The news appeared to catch the governor off guard, throwing his administration into confusion and setting off conflicting news media reports.

After frantic talks between the governor's operation and Kennedy’s camp last night, Kennedy appeared to waver on whether to withdraw and was preparing a statement reasserting her interest in the job. But at about midnight, she decided to make clear she was taking her name out of consideration and released the statement saying so.
Kennedy's move comes nearly two months after she, along with several members of Congress and leading political officials, began lobbying the governor for the coveted Senate seat. She attracted relentless attention and was viewed by many as the most likely choice for Paterson, given her national stature and ties to the incoming Obama administration.
Kennedy had gained the support of some powerful backers in the state.
But her pursuit of the seat also set off resistance, with some local Democratic officials suggesting it smacked of entitlement.
Polls have showed voters preferring Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo for the position.
Paterson had planned to announce his selection on Friday or Saturday, but it was not clear how Kennedy’s move may affect the timing. The governor has been coy, and while he has praised Kennedy, he has also spoken approvingly of other candidates, including Cuomo and Representative Kirsten E. Gillibrand, who is beginning her second term in Congress from the Albany area.
Clinton resigned from the Senate yesterday, immediately after being sworn in as secretary of state. The governor has said that he would like to select a woman to succeed her, noting that if he were to choose a man, the number of female senators would drop to just 16.
Kennedy, 51, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, has never served in public office. The Senate seat was held by her uncle, Robert F. Kennedy, before his assassination.

Go to:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/01/22/caroline_kennedy_withdraws_bid_for_us_senate_seat/

Lifting veil of privacy, friends discuss Caroline Kennedy

When community groups and the Board of Education were caught in an acrimonious dispute over an arts program, education officials brought in a fixer: Caroline Kennedy.
The daughter of a president and niece of two senators listened attentively, asked probing questions and proposed various scenarios to resolve the dispute. Under her prompting, a compromise was reached.
"People were pushing themselves back from the table and folding their arms," recalled Stephanie Dua, chief executive officer of the Fund for Public Schools. "She was very good at defusing the situation. ... She has a very easy style about her but she’s very sharp."
The episode is an intriguing glimpse into how Kennedy might fill the role of U.S. senator if she is appointed to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In a series of interviews with The Associated Press, friends and colleagues of Kennedy painted a picture of a reserved but intelligent and tenacious woman who writes her own speeches and who, despite her vast wealth, still takes the subway.
Those interviewed did not provide an impartial view — but, with several speaking publicly for the first time about their relationship, they offered a rare look inside the private world of a woman America fell in love with decades ago as she rode her pony over the White House lawn.
___
Much was made of Kennedy’s decision last January to support Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, but she is no stranger to politics. Paul G. Kirk Jr. remembers meeting her at the age of 16 or so, soaking in as much as she could while on the campaign trail with her uncle Teddy.
She was "lively, engaged, inquisitive," said the family friend and former head of the Democratic Party. "She might hear two or three people ask the senator the same question if he was in a forum. They’d get back in the car, and she’d follow up."
By the time she was in Columbia University Law School more than a decade later, her intellectual curiosity, and her studiousness, still made an impression.
"She’s the A-plus student who does 110 percent," said classmate, friend and eventual co-author Ellen Alderman. "We were nerds ... the two Type A personalities who had worked very hard in school."
Inspired by some of their law school case studies, Kennedy and Alderman had a book proposal completed before they graduated. Soon they were traveling the country, interviewing people who had been caught up in civil rights cases for "In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action."
Kennedy was very good at putting their interviewees at ease, Alderman said. There was never any talk then of a political career, she said, but looking back she’s unsurprised.
"For me now it seems very natural," she said. "The most important part of the research we did was talking to people and listening to them. And she’s terrific on the legal end, on the analysis and the issues, and she’s terrific on the people end, on understanding how the law and government affects people every day."
___
Kennedy had her first daughter, Rose, around the same time she graduated from Columbia in 1988, and her professional life took shape around her children.
When Alderman became pregnant, she recalls, Kennedy became her "mommy mentor," showing her what she needed to pack a diaper bag, and giving her advice on work: "You can still do it, you’re just not going to have eight, 10, 12 hours at a time," Alderman recalls her saying.
Kennedy had help around the house, but she never delegated parenting — picking her three kids up from school and knowing who their friends were and where they were, said Esther Newberg, her friend and literary agent. Kennedy joined the board at her children’s school, and colleagues said she’d never attend a meeting if it meant missing a recital or another such event.
Kennedy’s friends and colleagues talk about what a remarkably "normal" life she lives, but one could argue they’re not the best judges. After all, her circle includes famous authors, a co-president of HBO, a former head of the Democratic National Committee, senators and the president-elect.
Kennedy’s finances — estimated by some at more than $400 million — never came up, Alderman said. The co-authors swapped who paid for dinner, and they flew coach. Kennedy has an assistant but does not use a driver, takes the subway around New York and books her own flights, friends said.
Her six-room apartment is at an exclusive address on Park Avenue where a larger unit was recently listed for $13 million. Friends describe it as a low-key place covered with books and decorated with slip-covered sofas.
Kennedy and her husband, museum designer Edwin Schlossberg, enjoy entertaining, frequently hosting buffet-style gatherings, Newberg said. Sometimes, he cooks.
Like thousands of New Yorkers, the couple hosted a debate-watching party the night of the face-off between vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. Talkative guests were shuffled into a separate room with a television so the true political junkies could hunker down in the den and hear every word.
When she wasn’t playing hostess, Caroline Kennedy chose the den.
___
Compared to the sharp-elbowed style common among New York politicians, Kennedy’s personality in a series of recent media interviews has seemed quiet, soft-spoken.
But those who have worked with Kennedy said her sometimes reserved demeanor could be misleading. More than one spoke of an instance where they had watched her listen carefully to each person’s point of view, then argue her point calmly but tenaciously, until she achieved her goal.
"If you aren’t as loud as I am, often people mistake that for not being effective and that’s just wrong," said Elaine Jones, the former president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where Kennedy served on the board. "I know how able, substantive and tough-minded Caroline is. Now others have got to see that in her. And she may have to project it."
While she never practiced law, Kennedy did heavy-duty research before board meetings and contributed to detailed legal debates over which cases would be selected by the NAACP fund, Jones said.
Kennedy also has been instrumental in selecting at least some of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award winners, who are honored for risking their careers to take a stand for their principles.
For the 2000 honor, she convinced the award committee to select a relative unknown, Hilda Solis, now the likely incoming secretary of labor, said Kirk, a committee member. Kennedy won the panel over with her argument that it was important to acknowledge lesser-known public servants so as to inspire others at every level of government.
Kennedy writes all her own speeches, says another longtime friend and colleague, Heather Campion. Preparing for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, speech writer and strategist Bob Shrum recounted handing her a draft of her speech, only to have her rewrite it from top to bottom.
Kirk said she seems to have taken to heart an oft-repeated family quote that she has included in her speeches again and again over the years: "Each of us can make a difference and all of us must try."
___
After years of focusing on her young children, Kennedy began to look for an alternative to the books on which she had been working.
"I’d like to work with people. Being a writer is a solitary job," she told Campion shortly before she went to work for the New York City Board of Education in 2002.
In her 22 months working three days a week at the agency, she was credited with raising tens of millions of dollars and revamping fundraising operations. Friends argue those fundraising skills would serve her well if she’s chosen as senator. Whoever is selected to fill Clinton’s seat would have to run for election to the seat in 2010, and — if successful — again in 2012.
Kennedy’s endorsement of Obama for the Democratic nomination came at a vital moment in his campaign, and friends said she loved campaigning and seemed invigorated by it.
"Presumably she could have had an appointment," said Campion, who at Kennedy’s request broke decades of public silence about their friendship. "There are a lot of great ambassadorships," Campion said she told Kennedy earlier.
There seemed easier ways to contribute without thrusting herself into the intensive public scrutiny that would come with a Senate bid.
But, Campion recounted, Kennedy was unconvinced by the warning.
She said: "But I want to make a difference ... and I love New York."

Go to:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/northeast/view/2009_01_10_Lifting_veil_of_privacy__friends_discuss_Caroline_Kennedy/

Paterson: Kennedy lacks some experience for Senate

Gov. David Paterson said for the first time Thursday that Caroline Kennedy’s lack of legislative experience is a "minus" to her qualifications as a possible appointee to the U.S. Senate.

But the governor, who will appoint a new senator if Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes secretary of state as expected, also said Kennedy has many positives despite never holding elective office.

"Caroline Kennedy obviously does have a tremendous relationship with (President-elect Barack Obama) that’s certainly a plus," Paterson said Thursday. "She does not have much political, I mean, legislative experience, which is a minus."

The Democratic governor said as many as 15 contenders are interested and he’s already spoken to or interviewed about 10.

He said Kennedy’s advantages include her name and contacts in Washington — including her uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy — that could give her immediate clout, much like former first lady Clinton.

Caroline Kennedy, a 51-year-old author and lawyer who famously guarded her privacy until December, gave a critical early endorsement to Obama during his campaign. Now, Paterson is lobbying Obama hard for an economic stimulus package to help New York out of a historic fiscal crisis.

Others said to be interested in the appointment include New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi of Long Island, and Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Steve Israel, Jerrold Nadler, Kirsten Gillibrand and Brian Higgins.

Go to:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view.bg?articleid=1144416

Poll: Cuomo, Kennedy Deadlocked for N.Y. Senate Seat

December 9, 2008

The jockeying to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate is looking more like a game of checkers compared to the allegedly pay-to-play tactics Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich is accused of using to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s seat.

According to the latest Marist Poll, Caroline Kennedy and New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo are tied at 25% among registered New York voters. An equally high number, 26%, are unsure of who the next New York senator should be. Gov. David Paterson will appoint a person to the seat after it’s vacated in January.

Among registered Democrats, Kennedy is the choice of 31% compared with 21% who prefer Cuomo. Among registered Republicans, Cuomo has the edge with 34% compared with 21% for Kennedy. Kennedy is more popular among New York City residents, while Cuomo is more popular in the suburbs. Upstate New York is divided.

Both Democrats enjoy positive perceptions among voters, with 64% rating Cuomo positively and 62% saying the same of Kennedy.

Former President John F. Kennedy’s daughter also has too forceful advocates: her uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, who is lobbying for her to get the job and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who touted Kennedy Monday as “very competent” and as someone who “can do anything.”

Other contenders, such as Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown or Reps. Kirsten Gillibrand, Nydia Velazquez, Carolyn Maloney, and Steve Israel all registered in the single digits with voters.As for Clinton herself, the vast majority, 70%, said she will do either an excellent or good job as secretary of state.

Go to:

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/12/09/poll-cuomo-kennedy-deadlocked-for-ny-senate-seat/

If Not One Kennedy, Perhaps Another, a 3rd Kennedy Says

December 8, 2008

Last week, Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, made waves when she appeared on MSNBC to say she thought her brother Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer, would be an excellent choice to be the next United States senator from New York.

Mr. Kennedy, however, quickly took his name out of consideration. But after news that Gov. David A. Paterson and Caroline Kennedy — Ms. Kennedy’s cousin — had spoken about the Senate job, Ms. Kennedy was back on the airwaves today. Same channel, same (almost) message: My cousin Caroline, she said, would make an excellent next United States senator from New York.

“Absolutely,” Ms. Kennedy said, when asked if she was encouraging her cousin to seek the job. “I think Caroline would be just a wonderful public servant. She’s been doing this for many, many years. She’s a lawyer, she’s worked in New York and Washington, at the bar in both those places. She’s a best-selling author. But most of all, she’s a committed public servant.”

Ms. Kennedy also cited her cousin’s work raising money for the New York City public school system and running the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, named for President John F. Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy’s father and a brother of the senator.

(Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, down in Washington for a conference on Monday, was also asked about Caroline Kennedy, according to The Associated Press. The mayor praised Ms. Kennedy’s work for the city and said that she “can do anything.” The mayor added: “Caroline Kennedy is a very experienced woman, she’s worked very hard for the city. I can just tell you she’s made an enormous difference in New York City.”)

Kerry Kennedy also confirmed reports that her uncle, Edward M. Kennedy, had lobbied Mr. Paterson on Caroline Kennedy’s behalf.

“Right, you know, I think that Teddy and Caroline are so incredibly close, and I can’t imagine a better team than the two of them in the Senate from Massachusetts and from New York,” Ms. Kennedy said.

Mr. Kennedy made no mention, however, of another prospective Senate pick: her ex-husband, State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo.Shortly before Ms. Kennedy’s appearance, Senator Christopher J. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who is close to Mr. Kennedy, said Caroline Kennedy “would be a great choice” to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is being nominated to be secretary of state.

Ms. Kennedy’s appearance came shortly after a news conference held by Mr. Paterson in Manhattan to discuss failures in New York’s efforts to transport relief supplies to Haiti after a recent hurricane.

Mr. Paterson said he would consider people for the job who had not held elective office, in addition to the large number of New York elected officials who are angling for the job, publicly and privately. (Caroline Kennedy, it should be noted, has never held elected office.)

“Elective office is not the only place that people have distinguished themselves and could serve the public,” the governor said, citing Mr. Bloomberg’s jump from business to politics in 2001, among others.But Mr. Paterson did not say anything about his private discussions with other officials about the appointment.

“First, it’s tell us who the candidates are, tell us what time you’re meeting with them, tell us whether or not you’ve talked to them before,” the governor said. “This is all gossip.”

Go to:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/if-not-one-kennedy-perhaps-another-a-3rd-kennedy-says/

Not the best choice for senator

A PUSH is on to make Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the former president, Hillary Clinton's replacement in the US Senate.
New York Governor David Paterson, who will appoint Clinton's successor, has said that Caroline called him recently to talk about the Senate seat, while cousins Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kerry Kennedy are publicly promoting her for the job.
Those who know Kennedy say she is pleasant and unpretentious. Certainly she has displayed none of the off-putting behavior that has characterized some other members of the so-called third generation of Kennedys. A lawyer and author, she has done some valuable fund-raising work for the New York City schools.
But that hardly means she deserves to be eased into a US Senate seat.
Indeed, a consideration of some of the very characteristics that have made Ted Kennedy such a force in the Senate suggests his niece would be far less likely to succeed there.
Senator Kennedy is a big, magnetic personality, gregarious and funny, so solicitous of other senators that he's been known to show up at small birthday parties for GOP colleagues - and laugh good-naturedly about how they use him as a bugbear to raise money from conservatives. No surprise, then, that even some Republicans who disagree with him on most everything nevertheless value him as a friend.
Hillary Clinton displayed some of those same traits during her time in the Senate, using her interpersonal skills to impress colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
Caroline Kennedy, however, is not a people person. She's intensely protective of her privacy, so much so that, according to a Washington Post report, friends are reluctant even to be mentioned in articles about her for fear of being frozen out. To those who don't know her, she comes off as distant and reserved.
"She's very quiet and shy," says one family friend. "I think she is a good person and a smart person, but I just don't know if she would make a good senator."
While Ted Kennedy took naturally to political life, Caroline Kennedy hadn't, at least until her appearances for Barack Obama this year. An indifferent speaker, she has never been much involved in the public fray.
"Yes, she would bring important media attention to any issue she chose, but she is simply not someone who has ever played a significant role in any of the big policy debates," notes a second Kennedy acquaintance.
Meanwhile, we've already seen that political talent isn't necessarily a trait that has taken deep root among the third generation. Temperamental and rambunctious, Joe Kennedy II proved a poor fit for public life, essentially fouling out of the 1998 race for governor. Likable but lightly informed Max Kennedy stumbled before he was even off the starting block for a planned 2001 congressional run. And in Maryland, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend lost her 2002 gubernatorial bid.
Further, the idea that Kennedy is a logical choice because women want a high-profile champion is a curious one. Despite her fund-raising work, Caroline is someone famous not because of what she's done but because of who she is. If she's appointed to the Senate, her selection wouldn't be based on the merits but on her name.
New York's congressional delegation has a number of politically experienced women who have won House seats on their own. Picking one of them would send a message of an appointment based on accomplishments.
Another possibility is New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. (The fact that he and Kerry Kennedy underwent an acrimonious divorce in 2003 renders it all the more interesting that she is one of the Kennedys publicly promoting Caroline for senator.) Yes, Cuomo is the son of a famous father, but he's also an experienced political figure who has taken his lumps and losses in public life.
By all accounts, Caroline Kennedy is a fine person, revered within her tight circle of friends and family.
But a US Senate seat is one of the most important posts in the federal government. It is not a barony to be awarded as a political perk to the lightly experienced scion of a famous family.

Go to:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/12/10/not_the_best_choice_for_senator/

Caroline Kennedy's new political turn

WASHINGTON - For much of her adult life, Caroline Kennedy fulfilled only the most modest obligation of her political birthright, sitting on the board of the John F. Kennedy Library and presenting its Profile in Courage Award. And even that annual ritual must have reaffirmed her wariness of power: Most of the winners were politicians forced from public life for their noble but unpopular deeds.
Now, after years of stepping aside as a fleet of mostly male relatives rushed past in search of influence and glory, Caroline is beginning to exhibit her own Kennedyesque sense of ambition. She spent the last year playing a crucial role in Barack Obama's election campaign, as a prominent surrogate and top adviser, and has entered into provisional negotiations about filling the New York Senate seat soon to be vacated by Hillary Clinton, and once occupied by her uncle Robert.
"She enjoyed a private life with her children and husband, and she zealously guarded her privacy until this year," said Ted Sorensen, a Kennedy White House adviser and family confidant who lobbied Caroline to endorse Obama last winter. "She's discovered, so to speak, a new world, and she enjoyed the experience."
Her tentative approach of a high-profile legislative perch comes at a crossroads for the Kennedy dynasty: Her uncle Ted, the family's standard-bearer for four decades, is ailing, and the other Kennedys of her generation have proved unwilling or unable to carry the family's flag.
An aide to Senator Kennedy yesterday denied news reports that he had promoted Caroline to colleagues as a replacement for Clinton. One relative, however, openly championed her cause: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer and activist who withdrew last week from contention, suggested Caroline Kennedy as an ideal substitute. Over the weekend, she reportedly contacted Governor David Paterson, who is responsible for filling the vacancy, to discuss the job without specifically declaring her interest in it. (Attempts to reach Caroline Kennedy for this report were unsuccessful.)
Until recently, even such an expression of curiosity in elective office would have been unimaginable for the 51-year-old, who long demonstrated more of her mother Jacqueline's elusiveness than her father's instinct toward politics. A trained attorney who does not practice law, Caroline Kennedy dabbled in legal scholarship and New York civic life while raising three children with her husband, Edwin Schlossberg.
Kennedy did not speak at a Democratic convention, whose dais has often served as a de-facto family reunion, until 2000, when she was ushered off stage to the theme from "Camelot." A year earlier, the death of her brother, John - who had a similarly uneasy relationship with public life until he launched and edited a political magazine - left Caroline Kennedy the lone survivor of the foursome that once inhabited the White House.
Since then, she has slowly drifted toward politics. In 2002, Kennedy took a $1-per-year job within the New York City Department of Education, raising money for a private charity that supported public schools. City officials were relying not only on her philanthropic and society ties - she is honorary chairwoman of American Ballet Theatre - but also her stature to rally support for an institution that often had trouble establishing credibility with wealthy donors.
"We discussed this when she took the role," said Joel I. Klein, the schools chancellor who hired Kennedy. "She knew she was going to be the public face of the public-private partnership."
Although she has been credited with helping to raise tens of millions of dollars for city schools - she quit her part-time job with the district after two years but remains co-chairwoman of the private charity - Kennedy surprised some in New York with her low profile, rarely giving interviews and appearing only fleetingly at public events.
In January, days before the critical Super Tuesday primaries, Kennedy for the first time endorsed a nonrelative for president, announcing her support for Obama in a New York Times op-ed that compared Obama to her father, who was assassinated in 1963. In it, Kennedy sought to affirm Obama's place in her family tradition even as a coterie of cousins made their own case for Clinton, his opponent.
(...)
"Caroline Kennedy has become one of my dearest friends, and is just a wonderful American, a wonderful person," Obama said Sunday on "Meet the Press," before declining to weigh in on her senatorial prospects for fear of getting "involved in New York politics."
Indeed, there are few places where a first-time candidate would find a rougher entry. Clinton's successor would have to defend the seat in two consecutive races - in a 2010 special election for the balance of Clinton's six-year term and then again to win a full term two years later - that could cost as much as $100 million. Already one popular Republican with a strong fund-raising record - moderate Long Island congressman Peter King - has declared his interest in challenging Paterson's appointee.
Sorensen, who ran for the same seat in 1970 after Robert Kennedy's assassination, said he has discussed with Caroline Kennedy the possibility of being in the Senate, although he would not divulge details of their conversation.
"My advice would be: 'Don't do what I did,' " said Sorensen, who entered the 1970 race as a national political celebrity with no experience as a candidate and lost in the Democratic primary. "I turned out to be a very poor fund-raiser, and you can't run in New York without any money."
One family loyalist who did successfully accede to the Senate suggested there was little Caroline Kennedy needed to learn about what a political career would entail.
"It's not new being a senator in that family," said Harris Wofford, who worked as an aide in the Kennedy White House before being appointed to represent Pennsylvania in the Senate a generation later. "It's a great tradition. She certainly knows what she would be getting into."

Go to:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/12/10/caroline_kennedys_new_political_turn/?page=full

Caroline Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., younger Kennedy generation, eyed for key positions

While Camelot could be returning to the White House, not everyone is enamored of the possibility that two members of the fabled Kennedy clan might score prized posts in Barack Obama’s cabinet.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer and activist, is reportedly being considered for the position of administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency while cousin Caroline Kennedy is a possibility for ambassador to the United Nations.
Marc Landy, a Boston College political science professor who wrote a book on the EPA, said Robert Kennedy would be an “innappropriate” pick for the EPA post, which he described as “one of the hardest” public management jobs in government.
“It’s not a good place to make a kind of symbolic appointment,” Landy said yesterday. “You need a pro.”
The professor said Kennedy was an “estimable environmentalist” and consciousness raiser about the issue but he’s not a public manager. “It’s innappropriate. It’s wrong,” Landy said. “Government is not all about symbol and impulse, it’s an awful lot of grinding, managerial work.”
Kennedy told the Huffington Post that he would serve in the Obama administration if they asked. “You know what, I would be of service in any way that the administration asked me to be,” Kennedy said. Kennedy’s assistant did not return a call to the Herald.
As for Caroline Kennedy, Landy said the United Nations ambassador is a symbolic figure who does a lot of speechifying and attends many receptions.
“One could imagine Caroline Kennedy, given the resonance of her name, her poise and her fine public presence, being really quite an estimable U.N. ambassador because of the nature of the post,” Landy said.

Go to:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/general/view.bg?articleid=1130595

Caroline Kennedy to campaign in Florida

Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, will appear at a campaign event for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday afternoon at Savannah Center.Doors to the event will open at 3:45 p.m. The event is tentatively slated for 5 p.m.
“Caroline Kennedy is an icon of Americana. She’s been in the public eye since she was just a baby. Many people are excited about Barack Obama in the same way they were excited about John F. Kennedy in the 1960s,” said Laura McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama-Biden campaign.

(...)

Go to:

http://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/articles/2008/10/28/villages/villages01.txt

Big Dig park named for Rose Kennedy

The Rose Kennedy Greenway was abloom yesterday as families from across the area showed up for the park’s inaugural celebration.
“It’s nice to come in here and see this on the way to the waterfront and not just steel,” said Paul Lakus, 62, of Medford, who enjoyed the park with his wife, Alma, also 62.
The park sits where the Interstate 93 Central Artery once dissected the city’s skyline. The Big Dig brought the ugly roadway underground and made way for the narrow, 1.5-mile-long urban park.
Lilacs, day lilies, geraniums and other blooms fill the park’s gardens and offer a respite from the constant stream of cars buzzing by on either side.
Yesterday’s festivities included local musicians, dance troupes and a Ferris wheel.
“What the Greenway has always been about is beauty and connection,” said Nancy Brennan, executive director of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy. “You can really see people remember how much joy there is in city life.”
Brennan said thousands of people attended yesterday’s celebration. Among the attendees were Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg - Rose’s daughter and granddaughter, respectively - as well as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Medford native, and Hub Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
Urban Adventours offered free bike tours of the park yesterday, though bicyclists usually must use the surrounding roadway..
“This is miles better than what it was,” said operations manager Mike Maker, who credits the end of the Big Dig with making the area more bike-friendly, with fewer potholes and detours.
Deb Murphy, 32, of Acton stopped by the park with her daughter Hannah, 1.
What’s their favorite part? “The highway that’s gone,” Murphy said. “But isn’t that a given?”

Go to:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1123482

Hatch, Kennedy team for voluntarism

Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., may be away from the Senate fighting a brain tumor. But he and his friend, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, teamed up anyway Friday to introduce a bill seeking to spend $5 billion to vastly expand national service programs.
"Sen. Kennedy called me," Hatch said Friday, noting that he "wanted me to know that when I made the announcement ... it was to be the 'Kennedy-Hatch' legislation and not the other way around" to ensure top billing.
(...) Hatch said he and Kennedy had long discussed the bill as a way "to marry two formerly competing visions of service," the full-time national service programs such as the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps pushed by Presidents Kennedy and Clinton, and less structured volunteering through charities pushed by Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
He said he hopes the bill will help again "ignite the spirit that 9/11 evoked in each of us. I am honored to reach across the aisle and join hands yet again with my good friend for the last 32 years, Ted Kennedy ... to provide more Americans more opportunities to sever each other and the country they love."

Go to:

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700258365,00.html

Senator Hatch: both sides "ridiculous" in squabbles

(...) While both nominees reverted back to their increasingly combative campaign today, Hatch urged all of his colleagues to work on a bipartisan basis, as Hatch has frequently done with Kennedy.
``Ted Kennedy is the lion of the Senate. As much as Republicans make a fuss against him, every one of us are praying for his safe return to the Senate in January,'' Hatch said earlier, addressing a summit of Servicenation, a national service group.
(...) Both Obama and McCain, who appeared separately last night at the national service forum, have agreed to co-sponsor the measure, Hatch said.
Caroline Kennedy, the senator's niece, said her ``uncle Teddy'' was delighted to see the legislation moving ahead, and was looking forward to passing the bill under the next administration. ``Theirs is a strong partnership,'' Kennedy said of the two senators. After years of working on health, education and jobs legislation together, ``I'm happy to report that today, they have done it again,'' she told the summit attendees.
Hatch said he had recently spoken with Senator Kennedy, who is under treatment in Massachusetts for a malignant brain tumor.
``He told me he was dealt a rough hand,'' Hatch said, his voice softening as he talked about the friend he considers ``like a brother.''
``But he's going to fight back, and he's going to whip this thing,'' Hatch said.

Go to:

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/09/senator_hatch_b.html

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy readies national service bill

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is introducing a major new national service bill aimed at recruiting 175,000 Americans of all ages to tackle national problems such as health care, education, energy and the environment.
It is Kennedy’s first major piece of legislation since being diagnosed with a malignant brain turmor in May. The 76-year-old senator has been working from his Hyannisport home on the “Serve America Act” with Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a longtime friend.
Details of the legislation will be presented today at an event in New York City. Kennedy’s niece, Caroline Kennedy, and Hatch are expected to attend.
Aides said the Massachusetts senator did not plan to be at the event.
“Time and again we’ve learned that large numbers of Americans are ready, willing, able and even eager to be involved in service, and that all we have to do is ask them to do so,” Kennedy said in a statement. “The Serve America Act will ask. It will connect every generation through service, and enable them to help tackle a wide range of national challenges, from the dropout crisis that plagues our schools to the lack of health care in our neediest communities to the energy and environmental crises that threatens our planet.”
(...)

Go to:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/politics/view.bg?articleid=1118531

Kennedy set to offer bill today for national service program

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, sidelined from the Senate as he undergoes treatment for a malignant brain tumor, plans to introduce a sweeping new national service bill today to recruit 175,000 Americans of all ages to do service work in health, education, environmental protection and anti-poverty programs, with their work partly subsidized by the federal government.
The plan, meant to build on national service initiatives that began under former President John F. Kennedy and expanded under former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, would provide an estimated $5 billion over five years to encourage citizens from kindergarteners to retirees to get involved in community organizations - including faith-based groups - on a series of programs targeted at national problems.
The new corps members would be paid modest salaries to spend a year working on specific national problems. Employers would be eligible for tax cuts for giving workers time off to do community service, while a new venture capital fund would also be created to boost the creation of new service organizations.
The measure is the first major piece of legislation the ailing Massachusetts lawmaker has presented since being diagnosed with a brain tumor in May. While the senator does not plan to return to Washington full-time until January, staff and colleagues say he has been working assiduously from his home in Cape Cod, following legislation, talking to fellow senators, and sponsoring amendments to bills.
The service plan - crafted by Kennedy over the past eight months with Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah - is meant to marry the two parties' often competing approaches to community service, encouraging the volunteerism advocated by many Republicans while providing federal financial assistance requested by some Democrats.
"What this bill is saying is, we need both," said Alan Khazei, co-founder of City Year, a Boston-based youth community service group and a chief advocate of the new bill.
The measure will be unveiled in concert with a national symposium on national service in New York. Former President Bush - who initiated a "1,000 Points of Light" program to encourage volunteerism - and former President Clinton, who helped create AmeriCorps, a federally funded program to encourage national service - are set to appear in videos touting the benefits of community work. Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President Kennedy, is scheduled to be at the event along with Queen Noor of Jordan, dozens of military officials and numerous members of Congress and community activists.
Current national service programs are working well, Kennedy staffers said, and the new plan would build on them. The Peace Corps, President Kennedy's program to help developing countries with basic needs, would also be expanded.
But the new plan, staffers said on condition of anonymity, would be aimed at people of all ages. While many volunteer programs now attract young college graduates willing to work for low salaries before settling into better-paid job, the Kennedy-Hatch plan would give older Baby Boomers an opportunity to take time off for community service, perhaps transitioning into a second career.
Retired people generally not sought out by community service organizations would be encouraged to get involved and eligible for an "Encore Fellowship" to extend their tenures beyond one year. Schoolchildren, meanwhile, would be taught to incorporate a "lifetime of service" into their lives, starting with smaller efforts such as food drives, aides said.
Kennedy has been absent from Washington since May, except for a single appearance to cast a dramatic, determinate vote on a measure to block scheduled cuts in Medicare payments to doctors. The Massachusetts lawmaker also made a powerful speech at the Democratic National Convention last month in Denver.
But Kennedy has continued to work despite his illness, issuing dozens of statements and signing onto several bills and amendments since he became ill.
Khazei said Kennedy has been working on the national service plan consistently since January.
"He hasn't missed a day. He gets more done from the Cape than most of us do in a week," Khazei said. "He's a hero."

Go to:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/09/12/kennedy_set_to_offer_bill_today_for_national_service_program/

Convention Confidential: Kennedy Bob-ing out of the way

Bobby Kennedy Jr. politely dodged questions about his political future now that Hillary Clinton won't be vacating her U.S. Senate seat. But he gave such a rousing speech at a Denver benefit for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial on Wednesday that admirers urged him to run for something soon.
Building on the emotional appearance of Uncle Ted at the Democratic convention two days earlier, Kennedy departed from his usual environmental concerns to connect his father's mission with the state of America today.
"When I was 13, I went on a trip to Europe with my father and mother," he recalled. "We went to Czechoslovakia and Poland and Germany. We were greeted by hundreds of thousands of people, who came to hear an American politician. It wasn't because [President Kennedy] had been martyred three years before. Even when Eisenhower went to Kabul and Teheran, he was met by thousands of Muslims who carried American flags.
"It took 230 years of discipline and restrained leadership by Republican and Democratic Presidents to build up a reservoir of love for the U.S. In the last seven years, through incompetence, we have drained those reservoirs dry."
Kennedy went on to indict the Bush administration for "torture, suspending habeas corpus and eavesdropping on hundreds of thousands of people."
Though Ted Kennedy was back in Massachusetts continuing his cancer treatment, 80-year-old Ethel Kennedy came with a flock of children and grandchildren.

Her daughter Kerry, who's been at the front of the RFK Memorial's human rights crusade, told us she's thought about running, "but I'm divorced with three kids. Right now, I want to be a mother."
What about rumors that her increasingly visible cousin, Caroline Kennedy, might run for office?
"I don't know," said Kerry, "but she'd be so great. She really has the capacity to bring people together." Bobby agreed: "We'd all be delighted to see her [run]."
Meanwhile, Gov. Patterson confirmed that the Triborough Bridge would be officially renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge on Nov. 19.
(...)

Go to:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/08/29/2008-08-29_convention_confidential_kennedy_bobing_o.html