For all the good that sites like DailyKos provide our society as a whole-and that is nothing to sneeze at to be sure-, it also continues a time honored legacy that cross the political spectrum. The legacy I am referring to is the search for ideological purity and the nearly knee-jerk responses to anything that falls outside the mass conventional wisdom. Markos and co. may have the moral and political high ground over their Republican counterparts, but when it comes to opposing positions, they come off as petty and childish as the GOP mouthpieces.
The latest example of this is the targeting of Caroline Kennedy as the heir apparent to the legacy of George Bush and other unqualified political legacies. Caroline's crime? Having the temerity to throw her hat in the ring and seek out the vacant Senatorial seat left by Hillary Clinton. For this act of treason/entitlement/whatever, she has become the newest Kos crew whipping girl.
There are several problems with this line of attack. First, the decision by Kennedy to contact New York Governor David Patterson isn't exactly a demand that she be handed the seat on a silver platter. Sure, it MIGHT have been better if she had laid back and let the governor come to her, but this is politics. We should praise someone who's willing to step up and take on this job, especially considering that they will have only two years to establish a record before facing re-election.
Second, at the end of the day, the decision of whether to appoint Kennedy lies with Patterson, not Kennedy. So, if he chooses her, it is on him, not her. He could certainly call for a special election, but that does not seem to be in the cards. So, why attack Caroline for abiding by the flawed method that will choose our next senator?
Finally, as Gail Collins points out, it's not like there have been any especially qualified alternatives proposed. Gail's pretty blunt about the reality of NY politics:
It is a tribute to the raging mediocrity of New York politics that while many people have expressed reservations about giving the Senate job to an untested, hitherto publicity-shy political novice, their protests often wind up with: “Why pick Caroline Kennedy when we could have — um ...”
In New York, two kinds of homegrown politicians tend to rise to the top of the heap. The smart, hard-working ones have sharp elbows and impossible egos. (I’m remembering Ed Koch on a long-ago visit to Berlin, waving at the East German guards at the checkpoint and yelling: “I’m here! It’s me! It’s me!”) The charming, easy-going ones tend to have the I.Q. of a cucumber.
As Adam Nagourney and Nicholas Confessore wrote in The Times, Kennedy has a reputation for “quiet competence and dignity.” If nothing else, that would be a novelty.
I understand the frustration with the lionization of the Kennedy family. I still vividly recall the irrational reactions of many to the death JFK Jr. And after eight years of a miserable failure of a political legacy, I can appreciate the strong desire to avoid such a thing ever again.
But, much like Caroline is not JFK or even Ted Kennedy, she's also not W. Nor is she Sarah Palin, whom she's also been compared to on this site.
What she is is a political novice with a long history of good work for her community. Is that enough to become senator for 2 years? Maybe not, but it's certainly enough to earn her, at very least, the ability to be judged by her actions and not by her last name.