With so much at stake it becomes a major national issue when a US Senator is to be appointed to replace one stepping down in any state. That one person will, after all, themselves comprise 1% of the entire Senate, and that’s a big deal. Still, there’s been a dearth of commentary at this site about the process underway in our neighboring state of New York.
Former Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin, however, has shared her own opinion at the often-interesting blog of the Vermont publishing house Chelsea Green. She says:
Yet, there is a good argument to be made that she would be the best person to fill that Senate seat. There are now 17 women in the United States Senate. With Hillary’s resignation, there will be 16, the same number that existed before November 4. A further argument would be that she could afford to campaign again for the seat in two years. But what interests me most is that the Kennedy legacy has been almost totally male, except for Kathleen Kennedy Townshend, a daughter of Bobby Kennedy, who served as Maryland’s Lt. Governor and lost her race for Governor in 2002.
So Kunin’s “good argument” is threefold:
1. Kennedy’s a woman (which apparently isn’t enough for Kunin to argue on the behalf of Carolyn Maloney or Kirsten Gillibrand, to whom she offers only a perfunctory collective reference).
2. Kennedy is rich.
3. Kunin’s perceived public need to enforce affirmative action among the Kennedy family itself.
I hope somebody has got a more sapient argument on Kennedy’s behalf than this.