From Community Organizers to Socialites
A former Governor of a large state that maintained 70% popularity through most of his tenure would be considered an easy choice as a Presidential candidate. Yet sometimes events that are totally outside of the potential candidate’s control get in the way. It isn’t fair, and it isn’t right, but it is what it is.
Despite being one of the best Governors in America, Jeb Bush of Florida will most likely be not be President. Republicans rave over him. Conservatives love him. He is married to a Latina, and has strong relations with the Latina community.
Yet his last name is Bush. In an ideal world, people are judged on their own merits. In the real world, the company we keep, including at the dinner table on holidays, does matter.
Jeb was actually the one initially groomed to be President. He was the most conservative, and a better speaker than his brother. What cost him a shot at the Presidency was his first Senate campaign in 1994. Running against the unbeaten and powerful Lawton Chiles, Jeb lost 51%-49%. In an incredibly classy display, he hugged Chiles after the election. In 1998, Jeb swept to victory as Chiles retired unbeaten. Yet by 2000, George W. Bush was already in his second term. Jeb did not have enough tenure (back when that mattered). So George W. Bush became President, and succeed or fail, Jeb was done.
Americans do not like dynasties. We are not aristocrats. We want our politicians to earn the job.
Some will say that Barack Obama did not earn the job. His resume is thin, his qualifications are lacking, and most people still do not know what a community organizer actually does. Al Sharpton is one, and his job remains a mystery to me.
Yet Barack Obama did earn the job. He won the election. The voters spoke, and that ends the discussion.
This brings us to Hillary Clinton. She keeps claiming she has 35 years of experience. She graduated law school at age 25, and then eventually turned 60. Her only skill besides abrasiveness seems to be resume padding. Given that she is old enough to remember Jimmy Carter, perhaps it should be called resume inflation. Critics stated that she had no business being a Senator.
As much as I agreed with the critics at the time, she won the election. That closes that discussion.
Now Obama has tapped Hillary to be Secretary of State. She is again in my mind totally unqualified. Her life has been focusing on domestic policy, not foreign policy.
Yet again, I am also a believer in Presidential prerogative. The President can pick anybody he likes. This should be the case. Bruising confirmation battles should be based on issues of malfeasance, not ideological bigotry. Anybody complaining about how Hillary is treated should refer back to John Ashcroft.
(On a cynical note, let Hillary be Secretary of State. During a time of War, the Secretary of State is a useless symbolic figurehead that holds tea parties while the adults led by the Secretary of Defense do real work.)
One question remains, with regards to qualifications.
Where the heck do we draw the line?
With democrats, the line is at the bottom. The evidence comes in the form of Caroline Kennedy. Her real name is actually Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, but let’s see that on placards.
Caroline Kennedy is a “Socialite.” She is famous for being famous. She is from a wealthy and powerful family. So what? So was Lizzie Grubman.
(In all fairness, Lizzie Grubman is more similar to Ted Kennedy for obvious reasons.)
Caroline Kennedy does not have anything in her background to suggest that she is a bad person. Nobody is implying that she has a wicked heart. Apparently she has done good things with her life. She donates to cultural causes such as the opera. She does fundraising for various charities, including charities involving children. While she had the world handed to her on a silver platter, as a republican I am fine with that. Unlike most useless beneficiaries of inherited wealth, Caroline Kennedy seems to have contributed positively to society.
That does not make her qualified to be a government official, unless she wants to start by being an employee at the DMV.
Barack Obama lacked experience, but he proved himself on the campaign trail. Caroline Kennedy wants to be handed the job. New York Governor David Paterson is the only person with a vote. He is against it, but is facing intense pressure. He should have the guts to appoint somebody that actually deserves the job.
This is America. The American dream still exists. Forget Barack Obama for a second. His story is powerful enough. Look at New York Governor David Paterson. Not only is he black, but he is also blind. True, he became Governor by default, but he earned his victories in the legislature before working his way up to Lieutenant Governor. I disagree with him on most issues, but admire his career trajectory.
Another person that I disagree with on every issue is New York Congresswoman Nita Lowey. She wanted to run for the Senate seat vacated by the respected late Daniel Moynihan. She was pushed aside for Hillary Clinton. Now she is being pushed aside again. Are democrats allergic to people of substance? Nita Lowey is qualified.
What is it about the Kennedy family that they continue to be lionized despite any noticeable skills?
JFK was an average Senator. He was an average President that has reached mythic stature for no other reason than he died tragically at too young an age. He is no different than Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, or Kurt Cobain. He was a celebrity leader that did not produce any notable achievements. He had grand designs, such as putting a man on the moon. Yet those were words. His deeds were minimal.
LBJ actually did things as President. This is because he had the qualifications to understand and work the process. He was shrewd where JFK was naive.
Yet if JFK contributed little, RFK contributed even less. His record as a Senator was totally void of anything distinguishing.
Being a Senator is hard work. Average Senators take photo ops. Good Senators actually draft bills, and read them in their agonizingly long entirety.
Ted Kennedy may not be much on the humanity scale. However, once he realized he would never be President, he devoted his career to actually doing the real work that the Senate entails.
Caroline Kennedy was a member of the lucky sperm club. Her qualifications for the job are nil.
I will be the first person to admit that resumes are not everything. On paper, nobody in the modern era was more “qualified” to be President than George Herbert Walker Bush. His resume sparkled. Ronald Reagan was Governor of California. This is legitimate experience, but on paper Mr. Reagan’s resume is less impressive than that of his successor. Yet historians rank President Reagan in the Top 5, while President George HW Bush is rated as an average President.
Yet does that mean Americans should turn into riverboat gamblers, rolling the dice on everybody? Americans rolled the dice on Barack Obama due to their frustrations with the economy. This has nothing to do with individual Senate seats already controlled by democrats.
Senate seats are now available in Delaware, Illinois, and New York. In Delaware the buzz is about Joe Biden’s son. As for Illinois, that is a mess. The only positive to come out of the Blagojevich scandal is that Jesse Jackson Jr. will not be getting the job. Yet the top politico going after the Governor is Ms. Madigan. Her father wants his daughter to have the seat.
When does this stop?
Liberals have been carping about President George W. Bush being a child of privilege that inherited the job. What the heck do they think of Caroline Kennedy? Dubya ran Texas. Mrs. Kennedy Schlossberg is perfectly qualified to break up a fight between the forces of Avery Fisher Hall and the army behind Alice Tully Hall.
I am now fully prepared to encourage Jeb Bush to achieve whatever office he chooses. After all, he has held real jobs in the past.
As for the democrats, they may talk about the future, but they are still running on the tired exhaust fumes of the 1960s.
Enough with the Kennedys.
eric
December 18th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I’m not sure what you’re going on about here. The GOP has been guilty of the same sorts of aristocratic behavior as the Dems, and I would argue even more - to the point where the GOP seems intent on strengthening an already entrenched American aristocracy at all costs, even removing the estate tax completely.
As for Jeb Bush - yes, he is popular, and yes, he is twice the man his brothers ever could be, but Florida is a $#@!hole and he’s partly to blame. As far as I’m concerned, he’s yet another complete failure from the Bush family.
Aside from that, I agree with you. This whole Caroline Kennedy thing is a huge mistake if you ask me. It will cause demoralization in the Democrat ranks, will PO grassroots liberals like me, and will only reinforce the hypocritical prejudices of the right. The same goes for Jesse Jackson Jr, Joe Biden’s kid, etc. There are plenty of qualified rank and file Dems who deserve better than this. Yet another reason I will never be a partisan.
JMJ
December 18th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Typical blind idiotic ideological bigotry is most eveident when its so steep that the person no matter how conciliatory they try to be end up contradicting themselves.
“he is twice the man his brothers ever could be ”
“he’s yet another complete failure from the Bush family.”
How can you be “twice” of “complete failure” ?
The Kennedys are the prime example of how the left loves its dynasties.
Sure, the right has a couple of hand me downs but even if you add them all up including the three Bushs it doesnt come close to the trail of Kennedys that have been in government.
It’ll be very intersting to see how the left defines experience in their support for Caroline after the reaming they gave Sarah Palin over her experience.
“ I will never be a partisan.”
Thats like saying I’ll never be a conservative.
December 18th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Mick,
It’s emoted, not thought. Read the Personal Ad Weeklies.
December 18th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Chalk me up as one of those who is opposed to dynasties. I couldn’t vote for a Bush again because I’m afraid that our kids would start thinking that political office is kind of a hereditary or family thing. I believe we’re already too far in that direction with wives succeeding their husbands in the offices vacated by death. I can’t make a blanket statement, though, because the situation is always the determining factor. I voted for Bush the first time because I thought Gore was a weak man who cared more about trees than Americans. Subsequent events have only reinforced that view. So, I put away my disquiet when the situation demanded it, but I’d much rather promote new names than the same old ones. The Kennedy’s have more than overstayed their welcome.
December 18th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Micky, the rather silly sematics you brought up aside, Jeb Bush, of all the brothers, always struck me as the brightest. It’s the way he speaks, his demeanor and carraige, his more realistic and pragmatic politics. But Florida is in an abyssmal state. We’ve been in recession for two years now. Our “unemployment rate” is low, but our jobless rate is ridiculous. We have an insurmountable debt and deficit, and the insitutional infrastructure is pathetic. And there is endemic conflicted contracting corruption and abuse related to “privatization.” That’s failure. Period. jeb Bush may be the best of the Bush Boys, and he is very popular here, though I have no idea why, but his legacy here is failure.
As for dynasties, look at Mitt Romney, the Bushes, the Sununus, Hunters, Reynolds, etc. There’s plenty of Republcian dynasties too.
As for partisanship, you can be a conservative and not be a partisan. Actually, if you really are conservative, you wouldn’t be a republican. The republican party is an amalgam of libertarianism, democratic tyranny, conservatism, neoliberalism, corporatocracy, colonialism, statism, theocracy, nationalism, internationalism and imperialism. I don’t know what the heck they are anymore. They’d better figure it out soon, though, lest they remain in the woods for a long time to come.
JMJ
December 18th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Jersy, just admit it was a dumb statement and move on.
You just look ridicilous when you start backtracking trying cover up your poisoned head.
If Jeb were a liberal , instead you would be pointing out all the wonderful things hes done and he would be a complete success.
“As for dynasties, look at Mitt Romney, the Bushes, the Sununus, Hunters, Reynolds, etc. There’s plenty of Republcian dynasties too.”
Still.
Do the math and pay attention, I said including the three Bushs the left still has the monopoly on dynasties.
Just the Kennedys alone out number the ones you mentioned.
As I said, theres always gonna be a hand me down here and there.
I’m not sure just how dumb you think I am but you are about the most partisan blogger I’ve ever run into.
Your attacks on the right have been with consistent bias and partisanship for the last 2 years like no one else I’ve ever met on line.
You are the role model moonbat.
You say your not partisan yet you defend just about every lib and dem for anything.
I’m not going to get into all the different breeds of republicans, they’re as varied as people are but I stick to the main principles.
Bye.
My wife walked in the door, I got better things to do.
December 19th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Micky, try to follow here. Jeb Bush seems like twice the man of his brothers, but that’s not saying much. Yes, he’s popular in Florida, but we’re talking Florida here, not exactly America’s cerebellum. All you have to do to be popular in Florida is hate Castro, wrap yourself up in the flag, and talk nicely to the people. My representative, Ginny Brown-Waite is about as effective a representative as a dead Gopher Tortoise, yet she wins reelections without so much as a campaign ad. Why? Because she hates Castro, wraps herself in the flag, and talks nicely to old people. This is Florida, Micky.
I detest dynasties, myself. They represent every America is supposed to stand against. And yes, the Kennedies are the most famous of American political dynasties (why, I have no idea). But when it comes to dynasties of wealth, the Republicans almost completely corner the market. And when it comes to sheer numbers of dynasties, any honest and educated person would know that this is a evenly bipartisan problem.
To be partisan, Micky, means that you belong to and adhere to the tenets of a PARTY. Sine there is no party that truly represents my political philosophy, I am not a partisan. But all your mincing and parsing aside, I am a lefty and therefore I disagree with the righties most of the time.
JMJ
December 19th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
” Sine there is no party that truly represents my political philosophy, I am not a partisan”
Yet you defend democratic positions at every opportunity ?
There are plenty of shades of grey inbetween the two strict adherences.
You are so far in the dark you cant see your hand in front of your face.
I know you would like to be able to slap some brand of uniqueness to yourself that would elevate you to some standing of where you look like the messiah of some new following because out of arrogance you dont want to labeled as some sort of joiner, a lemming, one of the pack, or that you’re capable of thought process that no mere mortal could concieve.
You voted for Obama.
That puts you in his park, not your own, hes in control with all of his far left positions that you have persistantly backed.
I dont care how unique you view yourself. When you vote for a person that holds those values you are representing those values.
When faced with an enemy on the field I’m not going to stop to ask just how entrenched he is in his leaders ideology or if he wants to kill me full on, or just a little bit because he agrees on one of my positions.
I dont want get along with him.
He defends what I believe to be dangerous and I want him gone.
All I know is that hes holding a gun at me in the name of that ideology and all his little intricasies that make him unique dont matter to me.
“he is twice the man his brothers ever could be”
“As far as I’m concerned, he’s yet another complete failure from the Bush family.”
You cannot be twice of anything that is complete.
Unless theres two of you.
If he is twice of what two complete failures are you are going off the chart into a negative.
That is not possible after “completion”
As SRJeff said, it was an emotional and illogical statement.
Just knock it off already, it makes you look pathetic and ridiculous.
I’ve goofed before and just said: “Wow, that came out all wrong”.
Try it and you will be free.
Were not talking about dynasties of wealth.
That would be another topic for another post.
We are talking about political dynasties.
Nice try though.