I think people are more than willing to have Caroline Kennedy in politics. They simply think she should do it the traditional way....run for office and get elected. A political appointment should not be her first entry into politics. So, Caroline, get organized and run like everyone else who wants to be a Senator.

first of all, the bloviators already posting stories on the net about caroline's political career being "over as soon as it began, blah, blah" while failing to see that our newly-minted president will be happy to give her a snazzy ambassadorship or other appointment if she merely nods her head for it, aren't earning their pundit fees.

however, the best thing for caroline, if she really has an interest in entering the ring, which has been and remains dubious, would be to run for congresswoman kirsten gillibrand's House seat fair and square after paterson appoints gillibrand to the senate. and lastly....if caroline indeed withdrew because, as rumor has it, she heard she wasn't going to get the appointment and can't take a loss on the chin, she is too much of a spoiled, lily-livered baby to take her knocks in politics, and good riddance.....

This item seems to have turned out to be a tease. A friend of hers has claimed she has not withdrawn her name, much to this liberals disgust. Caroline is a poor speaker with little poise, and without a glint of intelligence or insight shining through her glib remarks; and her ideas about entitlement ("I'd be happy to be named to that Senatorial seat") are beneath contempt. With lazy motivation like hers, I'd prefer she join the GOP.

Wasn't there an issue regarding Carolines irregular visits to the voting booth...wants to be a U.S. Senator but cannot bother going to her polling place. I'm always disgusted by these rich folks and their entitlement mentality..."I'm a Kennedy I should be senator". We Americans need to be more vocal and much more demonstrative regarding how and who we want running our government. We continue to sit back and let the same old bloodsuckers back into office. We never muster a good show of force against policies and practices we do not like or do not want. We keep letting our lives be ruined by the super corrupt, super wealthy and super sleazy. Take control Americans...THIS IS OUR COUNTRY!!!!!!!

I know someone who is happier than George Bush is right now after leaving all that mess to Obama ...

and that person is Caroline Kennedy ...

That one month senate bid stint must have been a bitch for someone as reserved as she is ...


There is no doubt she will continue to be an asset to New York without her being officially in Government ...

Mr. Zelizer doesn't speak for me -- I am disappointed that Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn her name from consideration. (I actually live in New York; I wonder whether Zelizer does?)

The statement:

"Caroline Kennedy won't be the next senator from New York because after George W. Bush, Americans no longer want politics to be a family affair."

Is totally unsupported by this shallow article.

The NY Times reported last night that Gov. Paterson told Ms Kennedy that "the job was hers if she chose to accept it" however she has decided to withdraw for (obvious) family reasons.

I'm reasonably certain that "Americans" don't want politics to be a BUSH FAMILY affair (the Bushes know it, too, or Jeb would be chasing the FLA senate seat).

And, although I am an Obama supporter, I think this statement:

"As Democrats try to offer innovative solutions to age-old problems and new challenges facing us at home and abroad, they are not instinctively turning to familiar faces."

demonstrates that Mr. Zelizer hasn't paid much attention to Obama's Cabinet picks -- looks pretty clear that Obama instinctively turned to "familiar faces".

All-in-all, pretty thin gruel in this article...

I get a little sick of this "Kennedy Dynasty" thing. It is overblown and trite. Yes, some of the children of Robert and Ted Kennedy and their sisters have gone into politics. But since the John/Robert/Ted generation, none have held and office higher than the House of Representatives nor, apparently, have they aspired to the level of their fathers or uncles. They certainly have NOT been and are not influential on a national or international level. It is certainly stretching it to say they fit the mold of hierachical rulers--the definition of dynasty.

As for Caroline--I'm not a New Yorker, but I hope if she is interested in serving, she will stand for election to some office, campaign, demonstrate her poltical and intellectual abilities and leave the rest to the voters of New York. Maybe she wants to be near her frail Uncle Teddy. Maybe she's tired of being kicked around by the media who had nothing better to do than count the "ums" and "you knows" in her public statements. Maybe she got tired of Paterson's insipid coyness about the appointment.

As for Paterson--He has played the bait and switch game--Oh, it's Cuomo! No, it's Kennedy! No its some obscure politican from upstate New York! I'll decide soon. No, I'm going to wait!--ever since Obama announced Hillary's move to the Department of State. If anyone has demonstrated an inability to make a decision and assure that the people of New York State are fully represented in the U.S. Senate from Day One of the new session, it is Paterson. No matter how you look at it, this has not been the Empire State's finest hour.

Caroline Kennedy was not a strong candidate, as I'm sure she discovered for herself. Politics is a full contact sport that would not have afforded her the privacy to which she's accustomed, and the occasional viciousness of the public scrutiny was probably an eye-opener as well. If she's serious about entering elected public service, she might consider a more modest entrance, such as running for a congressional seat in the House. Based on all accounts that I've read, Caroline Kennedy has many admirable qualities, but they ought to be tied to direct experience in politics, not the sideline view which she's had until now.
In terms of her pedigree, there's something particularly un-American about a dynasty having a role in politics. A candidate's parents shouldn't affect his or her worthiness for public office, nor should they tilt the playing field in the candidate's favor while running. While there's an understandable glamor about the Kennedys thanks to their rise to prominence, as well as the intelligence and dedication to public service that John, Robert, Ted, there's no guarantee that their descendents will show similar excellence--as, in fact, they have not to date. We, as voters, should favor meritocracy at every juncture, even at the expense of socially prominent families whose elders have made contributions in the past.
I'm not sorry that the Kennedy star is fading. Not because I have a problem with the Kennedys personally or what they've stood for, but because as President Obama has alluded to, it's time to put aside the old rivalries. Caroline Kennedy, however inadvertently, would persist the battle between Liberals and Conservatives that's consumed a generation and caused tremendous damage. One only has to look as far as the battles between the Clinton White House and Congress or the raw corruption and partisanship of the Bush Administration to see evidence. We need to move on, even if that means the ambitions of some have to be left behind.

Camelot is dead thank god, it whet out with JFK and RFK Just becaues the name is Kennedy do not mean they know what they are doing. all we need is another Bush takeing up space in politics caues it's a family business

Caroline's brief flirtation with the office left a bad taste in my mouth. I think the comments about how her name hurt her or she was attacked because she is a woman have no basis in facts. The idea that her name hurt her is absurd. Whether she was really ever the "front runner" or not is something only Patterson (and maybe his aides) know for certain. But she was by Patterson's admission clearly a serious contender. That fact alone was due to her name and family history/connections. Name anyone else who has shunned public life, taken almost no positions, has never held office of any kind, has not even run a business, has barely even voted or participated in the democratic process who suddenly declares she wants to be the Senator of a major state and is instantly a serious contender? Her name and public goodwill associated with it was her only qualification. Yes, she was a successful fundraiser (another benefit of her name and family connections), but so are a lot of people who wouldn't have gotten the time of day on consideration for this position. She may be a wonderful person and I have absolutely nothing against her personally, but it is crazy to conclude she was qualified for the job. She may have been great at it, but that is all pure speculation and aspiration on our part since there was absolutely nothing to judge the chance of her success on...

In terms of her brief "campaign," I don't fault her many of the supposed gaffes but the few I do are damning. So what that she didn't get the support of all the State's political insiders. If anything I consider that a plus. New York is one of those states absolutely sullied with political cronyism and corruption. The State Legislature is a joke and a disgrace full of oversized egos from small minds whose principle interest is what's in it for me. The mistakes I do hold her accountable for are: 1) The idea that she could run for office (appointment) with the general promise that she would "change" and stop hiding and being so overtly private and removed from view, all the while continuing that behavior. Everything was done though unnamed spokespeople and rumor. She never came out and really put herself on the line. She never remotely tried to sell herself to her actual constituency in anything more than a token way. She seemed to be incredibly afraid of losing face on the one hand and completely incapable or unwilling to demonstrate comfort as a public figure on the other. That left no hands for her to play the role of Senator. 2) She and her handlers never demonstrated any political finesse. That might be forgivable if she was some "straight shooter" who told it like it was and was totally "transparent" but she was already the opposite of that (per point 1). If you're not going to be a "voice of the people" then you need to be an agent of the people behind the scenes. Her constant fumbling of the process demonstrated she was not qualified for this, at least not yet. Heck, she couldn't even handle the politics of her own family in her "campaign," infuriating her Uncle Teddy with her excuse for withdrawing. She wasn't prepared to work-the-angles the way, for example, Clinton could. Could she rise to the occasion? Who knows. But can we do no better than to hire someone who doesn't demonstrate ANY of the core talents out of the gate? A) Her farcical departure only emphasized the first two issues and made it clear it is for the best she is not getting the job. One of two things is true about why she left: a) She really did waffle in her commitment for "personal reasons" in which case she had no business being in contention. A Senator needs a lot more commitment and decisiveness than that. B) The "personal reasons" was just an excuse to save face because she didn't think she was going to get it and didn't want to be rejected. Poor baby. Real Senators and other elected officials have to deal with constant rejection, from their elections to the inevitable factions that never approve of them. It helps make them stronger and define them. If she couldn't handle this simple loss, she would have been an utter failure in office. My guess is it went down like this: She somehow got the impression that Patterson was going to give it to someone else, so she says she's withdrawing. Patterson gets the news and is stunned because he was still considering or leaning toward her. She hears this and waffles, saying she is still in it. By now Patterson realizes that anyone this politically incompetent and indecisive would be a bad choice for the State and it is her premature, face-saving first withdrawal that ironically sealed his opinion not to give it to her... All for the best in the end.

Again, nothing against her personally. If she sincerely wants to enter politics let her do it through an election process. Her name, connections and money will still give her a huge advantage but the process will mature her and ready her for the position she clearly wasn't ready for. I think most of the people supporting her now are doing so because they want her to succeed or think she is a nice person but we need more than that...

The comments on this article site are comprised of mostly puerile whiners. "Caroline needs to do this or that; she should just wait for a real election to toss her hat into the ring. Trying to cash in on her family name is gross and anyway she's just not ready for the rough and tumble, eat you for breakfast and spit you out before lunch, yada, yada, yada!"
I get the impression that most of the comments were written by 20 to 30 somethings. You protest and babble too much as the Bard once insightfully observed. Did not we just elect a man to be president with limited political experience? Haven't we the people longed for the non-professional politician to put some new ideas into the process? The trash speak about the last member of a family whom gave their all to serve our country is shameful. Doesn't the always putting counry first have any meaning when it comes to the Kennedys? It is a sad day when people try lamely to compare the Bushes with the Kennedys.
Finally then, that Gov. Paterson dangled Caroline to twist in the wind for this past month is inexcusable. It was probably this tortourus cruelty that was the last straw for her and that combined with the knowledge that Paterson was going for someone else anyway shoved her to leave this scene rather than face the humility of public defeat. I for one could not stand and watch another JFK family member assassinated: literally or figuratively.
So congratulate yourselves on yet another (and final end to Camelot). Who needs someone of quality and self sacrifice to have two years to try and help this country regain some integrity, honor, and shine. Oh and you can keep those silly nanny horrors and some minor tax issues as justification if you must. I understand some cabinet members are facing similar smears. After eight (8) years of the Bush teams excesses I suppose we should just pile on the new congress right away!

I think the media response to the Caroline Kennedy and the New your senate seat has been blown out of proportion. Why can't we wait until Gov. Paterson announces his decision and that can stop our 24-7 black whole of news nonsense. I'm tired of reading the gossip column. This is another great example of American news being distraction rather than content.

Excuse me? Look at how many people went ga-ga over Kennedy. It's only when the press turned bad that it went downhill.

There'll be another mediocre, pampered Kennedy in Congress at some point. And watch out for George P. Bush in a few decades, courting Latino voters!

AAAAGGGGHHHH