Caroline Kennedy to Seek Appointment to N.Y. Senate Seat

Stefan Friedman, a spokesman for Caroline Kennedy confirmed to the Fix this evening she is seeking the Senate appointment. Kennedy made a round of calls today to influential New York Democrats, added Friedman. She spoke to, among others, Rep. Louise Slaughter who offered an endorsement this evening, as well as New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Original Post

Caroline Kennedy, the press-shy daughter of President John F. Kennedy, has decided to seek appointment to the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a Democratic source familiar with the decision.

"I've talked to Caroline Kennedy and she is clearly interested," said New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the immediate past chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "The Governor and I talk regularly on this but we have decided to keep each other's counsel."

Kennedy's decision comes several weeks after her name was first floated as a possible replacement for Clinton, following a phone conversation she had with New York Gov. David Paterson. Paterson, who took over for Gov. Elliot Spitzer earlier this year, has the sole power to appoint the next senator.

Paterson, speaking today about the Kennedy news, was decidedly noncommittal. "I've had a number of conversations with a number of people who are interested," Paterson said, according to the New York Daily News. "I have returned a couple of calls from her but have not spoken to her since the initial conversation. Obviously people are interested and would like to come in and present their case, and if they ask for that time I'll grant it to them."

In the intervening weeks since Kennedy's name was floated there has been a behind-the scenes battle -- that has occasionally spilled out publicly -- between backers of Kennedy and those of Clinton.

The Clintonites have made clear that they remain less than pleased that Caroline Kennedy endorsed President-elect Barack Obama during the Democratic presidential primaries and have voiced concern that Clinton's Senate seat would be handed off to a New Yorker who didn't support her national bid.

The Kennedy forces -- led by Kerry Kennedy, who, interestingly, is divorced from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the other frontrunner fot the appointment -- have taken to the television airwaves to make the case for Caroline.

That case in a nutshell: she is the heir to the most famous political legacy in American politics, she has universal name identification and the ability to raise untold amounts of money, and she is personally close to the president-elect.

Rev. Al Sharpton, who per Politico's Ben Smith, spoke with Kennedy this afternoon about her interest, put out a statement testifying to her qualifications. "Since the possibility of Ms. Kennedy's candidacy for the Senate has, understandably, already generated a fair degree of debate and discussion, I feel compelled to state that I unequivocally disagree with those that say she is not qualified and could not bring needed leadership to this state and country," said Sharpton.

It was not immediately clear what prompted Kennedy's interest in the race although her active support of Obama -- she endorsed him and then helped lead the search for his vice president -- suggests that the election of the Illinois Senator may have played a significant role.

Kennedy's decision to make her interest known marks a significant break with her past shunning of the public eye. While Kennedy is almost certainly now the frontrunner for the appointment, her acknowledgment of her interest now transforms her from a largely private to an almost-entirely public figure.

Should she win the appointment, Kennedy will face a 2010 special election for the remaining two years in Clinton's term and then another election in 2012 for the full six year term.

Republicans insist that despite New York's decided Democratic lean they will make a serious run at the seat in 2010 with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Peter King the most well-known potential candidates.

Aside from Kennedy and Cuomo, Democrats mentioned for the appointment include: Reps. Kirstin Gillibrand, Carolyn Maloney, Brian Higgins and Steve Israel as well as Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi.

The news of Kennedy's interest was first reported by Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times.

肯尼迪之女卡罗琳：与政治绝缘的“怪物”

这家人个个长得又酷又帅，走到哪里都勾引起闪光灯亮个没完。卡罗琳·肯尼迪，她的父亲是大名鼎鼎的肯尼迪总统，弟弟是几年前死于飞机失事的小肯尼迪，美国著名政治杂志《乔治》的创办人。出身名门的她却是一个安静的“肯尼迪”，一个与政治绝缘的“怪物”。

卡罗琳·肯尼迪(Caroline Kennedy)，在 2001年9月以前，人们只知道她是前美国总统肯尼迪的掌上明珠，却不清楚她干过什么。

如果她想步入政界，那真是易如反掌，但她却选择了平平淡淡的生活。从哈佛毕业后，卡罗琳顺理成章进入律师界，然后与设计师埃德温·施罗斯伯格(Edwin Schlossberg)结婚生子，和父亲一样，这个性格倔强的女人心里明白——DO与DO NOT的分寸，应该由自己把握。

从小就怕闪光灯

在家里，她绝对算乖乖女；在学校，她是哈佛法学院的N好生，从小到大没听说她和哪个英俊少年曝出绯闻，更没听说她跟毒品有什么瓜葛。几年的一个不知从哪里冒出来的传记作家，在卡罗琳毫不知情的情况下出版了她的传记。在这本细节未经证实的传记里，卡罗琳的名字依然纯洁无瑕。她仅有的接触不良药品的经历是十几岁时曾在医生的指导下服用减肥药片，当体重减下来后，她马上就停了药。

1960年，背尼迪赢得民主党总统候选人提名。踌躇满志地回到雅尼斯港(Hyannis Port)的豪宅里。两岁大的卡罗琳奔出门迎接凯旋的爸爸，却遭到闪光灯的疯狂轰炸。小姑娘把脑袋死死贴到爸爸怀里，肯尼迪慈爱地告诉她：“别害怕，宝贝。他们伤不到你。”

卡罗琳渐渐长大，明白闪光灯当然伤容不了自己。但是这个姓氏所背负的巨大荣耀，已经吞噬了父亲、叔叔、还有弟弟，肯尼迪家族的人好像都难逃“声望”二字的诱感与纹杀，他们在各种场台不遗余力施展个人魅力，试图影响周围，必早时影响全世界。他们心里时刻铭记肯尼迪总统的那句名言：“不要问国家能为我做些什么，而是要扪心自问，我能为国象做些什么。”

躲在闪光灯后的卡罗琳显然有能力“为国家做些什么”。拥护肯尼迪王朝的人耐心地等待她的出位，这一等就是近半个世纪。有时大家会在曼哈顿街头遇见卡罗琳.她手里拎着大包小包，领着3个孩子气喘吁吁地向曼哈顿私立学校赶去，或者她出现在昔日好友的葬礼上，满脸悲戚，泣涕涟涟。谁会想起她曾经以肯尼为姓呢(按照西方习惯，卡罗琳结婚后改成丈夫的姓“施罗斯伯格”)？

平平常常最开心

土气、保守，就是卡罗琳出现在公众面前的形象。这样一个看上去无味的女人何必为她浪费笔墨和胶卷？

她只是朴素而已。说话不多，不表明她丧失了风度的家族本能：“新品上市”的招牌不能让她心动，也不代表她不懂得时尚。只有身边的熟人能读懂卡罗琳的内心世界。他们说，这是一个热情洋溢的女人，她和“自已人”聊天时，话也不多，却字字珠玑。她亲手挑选的衣服，大方养眼，好朋友都佩服得五体投地：“卡罗琳总能找到最适合自己的衣服，不去赶时髦，不‘血拼’，可能因为只有血自己才知道究竟什么算得上最好的。”

过去15年里，卡罗琳写过书(有她白己写的，有与别人合作出版的)，也编过书。那一年，母亲的诗选《杰奎琳·肯尼迪· 奥纳西斯最爱的诗》(The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis)经她之手编辑出版，她在推介会上说，妈妈在我心里留下极其鲜明的印象。“小时候我们全家人聚在一起玩字谈游戏，她总能想出新奇的字眼，然后随口背出一段大家从没听过的诗句。她还喜欢阅读。”这些习惯影响了卡罗琳，也是她从母亲那里继承的最好的礼物。她尝试过像母亲那样，尽一切可能把这些在孩子们身上一代一代传下去。

谁能充耳不闻？

“9·11事件”之后，卡罗琳接受邀请，成为纽约市公立学校资金筹募会的劝募大使。当时，纽约公立学校面临严重的资金不足，平均每百名学生才能分到一台电脑，图书馆里每年分摊到一个学生头上的购书经费，只有可怜巴巴的6美元。纽约市公立学校总负责人乔尔·克兰说：“请卡罗琳出来帮我们，是我们这辈子所做的最高明的决定。”当他向决策层提出这个建议时，竟获得全票通过。

事实如克兰所愿，在短短一年半里卡罗琳的办公室收到总额高达1.6亿美元的私人捐助，其中仅比尔·盖茨及夫人创办的基金会就掏出5100万美元，以文笔辛辣著称的杂志《纽约观察家》为卡罗琳大声喝彩道：“凭这个人的魅力，聪明的头脑，还有家族在纽约人心里留下的美好印象，肯尼迪女士迅速赢得纽约的注意，为自己树立起令人尊敬的形象……在我们生活的这座城市，谁能对她的呼唤充耳不闻？”卡罗琳为孩子们所做的一切，报酬只是象征性的每天1美元。

“肯尼迪王朝”形象大使

“在帮助公立学校这方面，大笔私人捐款的作用无可替代。但我一直更专心于来自普通百姓的捐助。我想让每一个生活在纽约的人都加入到这场行动中，因为他们的孩子就在这里接受教育。”

尽管卡罗琳以前几乎从不单独露面，但无论她走到哪里，总有热情的纽约人向她张开双臂，肯尼迪这个形式，的确有意想不到的魔力。倒是公立学校的孩子并不知这个外表依然年轻的“太太”究竟是何方神圣。有一次卡罗琳走进一间教室，问孩子们知不知道他是谁，结果教室里马上一片死寂。后来一个孩子怯生生地站起来，猜道：“你是，布兰妮·斯皮尔斯(Britney Spears)吗？”

卡罗琳每星朋至少去办公室3次。“只要她站到你的面前，幽默的谈吐会让你马上放下所有包袱，全身投入到工作中去。”同事们说，“她不喜欢拖沓，凡是经过她手，很自然地没多久就办好了。”每天放学的时间一到，她会准时出现在孩子学校的门口，忠实地履行一个母来的职分。

“能够托生在肯尼迪家族，并且和兄第姐妹一起长大成人，我觉得自己非常幸运，因为这个家族的所有成员，都为自己的理想埋头苦干，我非常喜欢把那些让自己受到感动的好事情拿出来与大家分享。成千上万的人共同努力，让我们生活的世界变得更加美好。特别是你如果从孩提时代就开始思考自己所在的这个世界，那么你的这种感觉就会更强烈。”