Posted by
The Hermit Crab on Monday, December 22, 2008 1:29:04 PM
Rather overshadowed by the Rod Blagojevich scandal, a Senate seat in New York is also opening up, thanks to Hillary Clinton's acceptance of Barack Obama's offer to be his nominee for the post of Secretary of State. Since she is certain of approval, the seat will need filling until a special election can be held in 2010. One of the aspirants to the vacancy is Caroline Kennedy, of the "rich and dirty" family Kennedy (hat tip to P.J. O'Rourke, I think). She has no political experience -- ZERO -- and no ties to any part of the state except perhaps New York City. What she does have, however, is a family with gobs of cash and an established history of willingness to spend it on politics.
The vacancy will be awarded by His Accidency David Patterson, Governor of New York. He owes his office to a fluke of luck, since no-one knew that Eliot Spitzer would blow himself right out of office with a sex-for-pay scandal. (There's an obvious joke in that last sentence. Perhaps several.) He knows that he's going to be needing plenty of campaign cash when the time comes to try to persuade the people of New York to elect him to a vote that no-one voted to elect him to before. Meanwhile, there's Caroline Kennedy, with a big smile and a bigger trust fund.
Is that a Senate seat for campaign cash deal I smell? Perhaps David Patterson is about to try a little Blagojeviching himself... After all, he is of the new, Clintonion Democratic Party.