David Corn

In general, I agree: appointing the scion of a political dynasty to political office reeks of royalism. But let me play the devil's (or Kennedy's) advocate. The Senate, and especially the Senate in New York, seems to me to be a special case. Each state gets two senators, regardless of population. That means most states are tremendously overrepresented in the Senate, but a few big ones, like California and New York, are hugely underrepresented....Since every senator gets one vote in the Senate, big states can only really compensate for their underrepresentation in two ways: with seniority (which Clinton's replacement won't have in any case) and celebrity (which Kennedy has in spades).

Why does celebrity help? Well, for one, it gives you a more effective bully pulpit. The national media is more likely to cover Sen. Kennedy (D-N.Y.) than someone that nobody outside of the state has ever heard of. Caroline's celebrity status will garner her instant press attention, regardless of her actual abilities. Press attention magnifies your attacks on your opponents and amplifies your message.

Perhaps Caroline Kennedy--who will attract one helluva staff--could do more for the Empire State in the Senate than a House member from upstate.

There's no doubt that picking her is something of an escape hatch for Paterson. In selecting the next senator, Paterson will disappoint several aspirants and only make one happy. If he goes with Kennedy, most of the disappointed will understand and not be angry. Last week, I was in Buffalo and spoke to someone close to the mayor, Byron Brown, who has been on the list of contenders. This person told me that Brown would be in no position to be upset should the plum go to Kennedy. But if Paterson chose a member of Congress from down the road instead of him, now that could annoy Brown.

It's understandable, then, that Paterson might make Kennedy the winner of this version of American Idol. Talk about a sentimental favorite. Still, I always root for the unconventional in politics. Wouldn't it be refreshing if Paterson did something more unpredictable? I am not against career politicians. But why not pick someone who is no politician and not from a political family--and send the signal that Washington could benefit from the input of smart citizens? Joe Klein has proposed a few, including Harold Varmus, who heads the Memorial Sloan Kettering cancer hospital, and Geoffrey Canada, who works with young African-Americans in Harlem. Those are fine suggestions. It may be, though, that the gravitational pull of a Kennedy is too hard to resist. If Paterson does submit to it, at least the media, in this time of troubles and challenges, will have an interesting and entertaining story on its hand: Caroline Goes To Washington. In these days of collapse and contraction within the news biz, at least several glossy magazines will be helped by such a move.