No Divine Right to Senate Seat

It’s true, we have no royal family. But I’m convinced most Americans want one. How else to explain the infatuation with Caroline Kennedy?

When the daughter of John F. Kennedy announced that she would seek Hillary Clinton’s New York Senate seat, the general public and the media acted as if it were hers by divine right.

Why? She’s a good person, a loving mother, a legendary fundraiser for New York schools, and she’d probably do a decent job as senator. But she’s no more qualified for the job than a whole host of other New Yorkers. In fact, she’s a lot less qualified.

Kennedy’s never been involved in electoral politics, never run for office, never been involved in a campaign until she supported Barack Obama for president, and she’s never held public office.

Compare that lack of experience with outstanding New York Democrats like Carolyn Maloney, Andrew Cuomo, Brian Higgins, Michael Bloomberg, Louise Slaughter, Jerrold Nadler or Anthony Weiner. They all bring more qualifications to the job than cute pictures of crawling under their father’s desk in the Oval Office.

Granted: No family has served this country better or longer than the Kennedys. Nor has any family suffered greater losses. But still, just because the Kennedys say they want something, doesn’t mean they deserve it. Especially not a U.S. Senate seat.

Please, can’t we learn, once and for all: We are a democracy, not a dynasty.

That’s my parting shot for today. I’m Bill Press.

Visit Mr. Press’s website at billpressshow.com.