Someone needs to tell the Caroline Kennedy the upper house of Congress is not the House of Lords. The party that claims to represent middle and working class Americans is seriously considering appointing a daughter of a former president with no public office experience to the Senate seat currently occupied by the wife of a former president who had no public office experience when she won it. The word nepotism definitely comes to mind.

What happened to our great meritocracy? Wasn’t the election of President-elect Obama supposed to prove that anyone, regardless of background, could aspire to be president? Well we can all dream of being president one day, but unless we belong to a political royal family, we should give up all hope of serving as Senator from New York.

Just a few months ago, it was Democrats who were ridiculing a relatively inexperienced woman running for high office, but at least Sarah Palin was self-made and came from the working class. Now some Democrats are favoring a completely inexperienced woman running for high office who was apparently born with the silver spoon and the Senate Seat, or throne, to look forward to. Republicans would do well to have a field-day with this.

Is this change we can believe in? Kennedy has absolutely no legislative experience and no real political experience unless you count the 2008 election speeches and Veep advice she gave for Obama. Her public service record is basically a list of charitable boards she sits on. Up until Kennedy and her uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, threw their support behind Obama during the Democratic Primaries, it didn’t even look like “Sweet Caroline” was into politics. One of the reasons New York Governor David Paterson said he was considering Kennedy for the seat is her close relationship with President-Elect Obama, so we can add cronyism to the list of words that come to mind as well. Kennedy didn’t even bother voting in some key elections for Democrats in New York. At least she didn’t come to New York solely to run for the Senate, which is an improvement from the Senator she may be replacing.

America is not supposed to have political family dynasties, the House of Bush should have proved that. But do not tell this to the House of Kennedy or the House of Clinton, for they are determined to stay relevant. With all the problems and scandals that greeted Democrats who recently arrived in Congress, having to explain why Caroline Kennedy has earned her place in “the most exclusive club” is just going to cause more headaches and give Republicans more openings.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush did Republicans a favor when he took his name off the list of potential candidates to replace Florida Senator Mel Martinez in 2010. It’s not that Bush was inexperienced, he was very successful and popular Governor, but Bush understood his last name was toxic and that Republicans needed new names and faces. It was no accident that one of the first people Bush called once he made his decision was Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican and former State Speaker of the House who is considered a rising star in the party.

The Democrats, after finding success with an untraditional candidate, look like they’re returning to their old ways. Let’s hope they do so, but we must not repeat their mistakes ourselves. Let’s make sure our candidates earn their way to public office and are not just “Senators by birthright.”

Last 5 posts by Abel S. Delgado

• Let’s Support the Cantwell-McCain Bill - January 6th, 2010
• Deeds Gets Dirty, Doesn’t Win Anyway - November 2nd, 2009
• Obama & The Berlin Wall - October 25th, 2009
• The Nobel Prom King - October 11th, 2009
• Bureaucratizing Interrogations a Horrible Idea - August 28th, 2009