Shock: Qualifications Don't Mean That Much When It Comes to Liberal Senators

I can't gin up the outrage over the inevitable Caroline Kennedy appointment, because 1) a lot of Senators are dumb and unqualified and 2) I'm not sure it matters much if one very liberal dynastic-politics boob (like Caroline Kennedy) is appointed in favor of a more qualified very liberal dynastic-politics boob (like Andrew Cuomo).

One would think the left and the MSM (BIRM) would pause to reflect on their breathless hypocrisy, but one would, as is common in this life, be disappointed.

Tom Maguire catches the NYT spinning a paper-thin resume into something more substantial:

This from the Times is especially droll:

But friends and associates say that Ms. Kennedy, 51, is no dilettante, and that her career is replete with examples of the kind of hands-on policy work and behind-the-scenes maneuvering that could serve her well.

Last spring, she joined the search committee for a new director of the Harvard University Institute of Politics, where she and Senator Edward M. Kennedy, her uncle, are members of an advisory panel. The university wanted a big-name politician. But Ms. Kennedy argued for someone who would view the post as a career maker, not a career ender, others involved said.

Her choice was Bill Purcell, a two-term Nashville mayor. Her uncle, whose voice carried the greatest weight on the board, had fallen ill with brain cancer, and might have gone in a different direction, one insider said. But over six weeks, she patiently made her case and eventually won over members of the institute’s board and Harvard officials.

...

Well good for her! As you may have suspected but the Times omitted, the Harvard University Institute of Politics is part of the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Its mission statement opens with the reminder that it was founded as "A memorial to President Kennedy". And Caroline Kennedy is able to exert influence from her board seat there - who'd a thunk?

As others have noted, Caroline Kennedy has the sort of experience many very wealthy socialites have -- hosting fundraisers for various causes -- as they attempt to fill up their enormous amount of leisure-time with something approaching meaning. And personal discovery, of course.

And eating shrimp and drinking mimosas.

How this transforms her from gadfly into qualified senate candidate, when two years of hard-charging reform as Governor failed to make Sarah Palin as plausible pick as Vice President, eludes me.

posted by Ace at 02:05 PM

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