Pay Some Dues, Then We'll Talk

By Gabriel Winant, Newser User

Posted Dec 8, 2008 9:39 AM CST

(Newser) – The notion of Caroline Kennedy taking over Hillary Clinton's Senate seat is "a truly terrible idea," a potentially disastrous combination of inexperience and perceived entitlement, Firedoglake founder Jane Hamsher writes for Huffington Post. "Her leadership could have been really helpful when we were getting the stuffing beaten out of us by a very well-financed right wing for the past eight years," Hamsher fumes. "But when things were tough, she was nowhere to be found."

"We have absolutely no idea if she's qualified, or whether she can take the media blast furnace of being a Kennedy in public life," Hamsher writes. "She's certainly shown no appetite for it in the past." Hamsher wants David Paterson to appoint himself to serve while Kennedy goes to remedial politics school: "Let her hit the road now, press the flesh, meet the public, and start auditioning for New York voters."

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (1)]

Barack Obama shares a moment with Caroline Kennedy before addressing a rally in Scranton, Pa., on April 20, 2008. Kennedy has expressed interest in the Senate seat currently held by Hillary Clinton. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

This April 14. 1963, file photo shows President John F. Kennedy and family outside the Palm Beach, Fla., home of the president's father after a private Easter Service. (AP Photo/FILE)

In this March 7, 2005, file photo, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg sits in front of an image of her father at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki, File)

Caroline Kennedy looks over the podium before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Monday, Aug. 25, 2008. (AP Photo/Tracy Gitnick)

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She simply picks up the phone and lets it be known that she just might be up for having one of the highest offices in the land handed to her because—well, because why? - Jane Hamsher

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