If Hillary Was Qualified for Senate, Why Not Caroline?

When Hillary Clinton announced in November 1999 that she was running for the U.S. Senate to replace the legendary Sen. Patrick Moynihan of New York, she never had cast a single vote as an elected officeholder. She never had put forth an agenda that the voters could use to decide whether she was the best candidate.

Her résumé? First lady. Lawyer. Advocate for health care and children's issues. That's it.

But when she made it clear that she was going to seek the job, the New York Democratic congressional delegation stepped aside, bowing to the wishes of the first lady, who barely had lived in New York state long enough to figure out where to find a great slice of pizza. Even Rep. Nita Lowey, who had spent 10 years in the House of Representatives and was considered the front-runner for the Senate seat, bowed out to accommodate the wishes of Clinton.

So here we are nine years later, and there is a huge fuss over Caroline Kennedy's decision to let New York Gov. David Paterson know that she desires the job.

It's rather pathetic to listen to the naysayers deride Kennedy's past accomplishments and dismiss them as if she were a spoiled rich kid from a family who has bounced from Paris to Monaco to Dubai, living the high life, all of a sudden deciding that she wants to ride the Kennedy name into elected office.

Rep. Gary Ackerman of New York did his best to dismiss Kennedy's qualifications by saying that "she has name recognition, but so does J. Lo." Even Sen. Clinton's rabid supporters are trying to scuttle Kennedy's bid, still angry because Kennedy endorsed then-Sen. Barack Obama over their candidate for president. Frankly, it's time you got the hell over it.

By the way, for all the Kennedy haters who are stuck on stupid when it comes to qualifications, read the U.S. Constitution. There are just three requirements for the seat: "No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen."

That's it, the end of the conversation when it comes to the totally subjective issue of qualifications.

As a resident of the state of Texas who also resides in Illinois, I really don't give a hoot as to who represents New York in the U.S.

Senate. But I am willing to call out sheer ignorance when it is operating in full glory.

I've met Caroline Kennedy just one time in my life, and that was in the CNN Grill at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. I said "hello." She said "hello." End of story. So I have no dog in this hunt.

But I find it intriguing to know that this candidate is someone who has spent years focusing on philanthropic issues that deal with education, health care and expanding America's interests in the arts, and has written books dealing with the right to privacy and the Bill of Rights, showing a passion for civil rights and serving as a national board member of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Instead of ripping her to shreds, maybe the haters should step back and recognize that here is a woman who understands public service. A notoriously private woman who is painfully shy in public, she clearly recognizes that we are in desperate need of people who care about the public good, and not necessarily amassing power on their way up the political ladder.

There are countless individuals in Congress who sought their positions because they actually wanted to change something. There are doctors, teachers, small-business owners — all individuals who saw this nation going down the wrong path — and they desired to step up rather than sit back and complain.

Paterson may choose a typical politician to fill the remaining two years of Sen. Clinton's term. But at least he can count on Kennedy's heart being in the right place — having love and compassion for the people, which is the true measure of a public servant.

Roland S. Martin is an award-winning CNN contributor and the author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith." Please visit his Web site at www.RolandSMartin.com. To find out more about Roland S. Martin and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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