There’s a lot of hoopla going on about the potential for Caroline Kennedy to be appointed to the post that will be vacated by Sen. Hillary Clinton when she takes office as secretary of state.
Many of those kicking this idea about the head and shoulders say that Caroline thinks she is entitled to the post because she is a Kennedy — posing that she doesn’t have any substantial credentials.
Of course many of those protesting just don’t like it because they don’t like Democrats. And Kennedys tend to be Democrats. But in fact, they are right that she doesn’t have any noticeable experience, kind of like Sarah Palin who was chosen as the candidate for vice president. She had been the mayor of a town about the size of Sylvester and was governor of a state with less population than Cobb County, Ga.
To be fair, if the shoe was on the other foot and there was the chance of a little-experienced Republican being appointed to a Senate seat, Democrats would be raising just as much ruckus. But Palin wasn’t being appointed. She had to stand for election.
Aside from that issue, we have the Illinois scandal where it is alleged there that the governor was trying to sell the Senate seat that will be vacated by president-elect Barack Obama.
Now here’s a novel idea. In an effort to promote and perpetuate our democratic republic, why don’t we insist that laws be changed that would require a special election to fill these posts, regardless of how they became empty and regardless of the time left in that term.
Yes, it would cost some money to hold an election. But isn’t democracy worth it? If we are willing to sacrifice young men and women on battlefields to “secure” and “spread” democracy, surely the cost of a special election to uplift those principles and ideals would be justified.
By appointing someone to a Senate seat, that person gains the unfair advantage of having incumbent by his or her name when the election does come around. If democracy is truly about our ability to make choices, then the opportunities to make choices should be upheld and expanded, not diminished.
