Caroline Kennedy is campaigning for the U.S. Senate. She does not have a record of public service. It may be useful to know something about her views. These are a few questions that I would pose.
Financial Markets. What specifically would you do to improve transparency, honesty and soundness of financial markets?
Automobile Industry. What are your views on the auto industry bailout?
Afghanistan.. What are our objectives and interests in Afghanistan? How long will the occupation last, and how much are we willing to spend? How will we define success or failure?
Student Loans. What if anything should be done about the crushing debt from tuition increases and student loans?
Trade Agreements.. What are the U.S. objectives in trade agreements? How do we incorporate democratic accountability and oversight with the creation of durable global agreements that are almost impossible to change? Is "free trade" promoted by signing complex trade agreements of the type recently negotiated by the USTR? How does one protect U.S. workers or the need for health, social and environmental regulation when negotiating such agreements?
Bilateral trade agreements.. Should the U.S. continue to press for bilateral trade agreements with dozens of countries, or is a multilateral approach more appropriate and manageable in the long run?
Global warming. What specific obligations should the US undertake to address global warming? What should we expect from our trading partners?
Transparency. What should the government do to improve transparency? In particular, what measures would improve compliance with the spirit of the FOIA ? How should government contracts be accessible to citizens? Should licenses of patents for government funded medical inventions be secret? Should the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) be negotiated in secret? Should bilateral trade agreements be negotiated in secret?
Intellectual Property Rights. Would you support a global treaty on copyright exceptions for blind and other disabled persons? Are there areas where strong exclusive rights for patents are a mistake? Will the U.S. honor the spirit of the 2001 Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health? Should the U.S. government pressure developing countries when they override exclusive rights in patents to expand access to medicines?
Normally candidates answer questions like these. Of course, I'm not sure what is normal these days.
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But to expect an appointment without ever submitting herself to an election is profoundly anti-democratic. It isn't about popularity either - if that were the case, again, she could go through the process of getting elected.
This is about money and connections. This is about cronyism and oligarchy. This is the opposite of democracy, meritocracy and egalitarianism.
No one born to different parents with Caroline Kennedy's life experience would be considered for this appointment.
Caroline Kennedy has been involved in in public service most of adult life. Her burden for, and active participation in raising money for New York City schools is well known.
Statements that infer "she does not have a record of public service" are, therefore, misleading.
Journalists, as well as politicians, could offer citizens a "service" of their own by seeking to address issues more accurately and from all perspectives in order to inform and educate the public. Supporting essays with facts is helpful for all concerned. Omitting them for any reason only benefits the argument or questions raised by the author.
foreign concepts.
It would be good to know her views, and my guess is, along the way, we will learn the ones we don't already know.
BTW, she does have extensive public service experience, just not elective office experience. She has also authored books, so her views are not totally unknown.
If you're hoping for a Couric-Palin moment with these questions, don't get your hopes up. She hasn't spent much time in the public eye, but she has been engaged in world events.
Are these people unworthy? Do their sacrifices mean less?
It is very unfortunate that CK lost her father at an early age. But many people do. They are not all given senate seats as hereditary gifts.
And while the average New Yorker worships her, they probably don't have much in common with her.
I know she wishes for this, but this may be the prime example of "be careful what you wish for ..."
So many commenters on other HuffPo blogs have been completely dismissive of her. She really ought to be given a chance to get comfortable with campaigning. It's not a given that both Senators from New York will be Democrats, given the upstate vote. So, when a respected, well-known Democrat with the capacity to contest this vacant Senate seat in 2010 and 2012, such as CKS, shows an interest in taking up that fight, Democrats upstate and downstate ought to give her a fair hearing.
Someone expressing doubts but still, evidently, willing to wait and see? That's positively refreshing!
(And personally, I would like to see anyone who is up for the position answer the same ones, stradanuova.)
Here's a question for everybody else: who else should get it, and why are they the most qualified?
See, as long as the discussion is about whether or not CK should get the seat, she gets it.
Let's say you're Paterson. If you appoint person X, then you've got a lot of answering to do as to why you found CK unfit for the position. What was so wrong with her? That's because the news cycle is all about whether or not she should get it. But if you appoint her, then it's fairly easy to deflect questions and move on.
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Why? It doesn't mean he thought she was unfit - it just means he thought someone else was better. If I were Paterson, she'd be the LAST person I would appoint - there's nothing that will make me NOT want to do something like being pressured TO do it.
What in the name of Odin makes you think you deserve to be a United States Senator, lady? I'll bet you never stole anything from anyone ever before. That alone disqualifies you. Plus we'll have to have a look at your x-rays. Any sign of a spine will also disqualifiy you.