Caroline Kennedy Takes a Role as More Than Keeper Of the Flame

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: In Her Own Time
Caroline Kennedy Takes a Role as More Than Keeper Of the Flame
By Lois Romano
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 18, 2008; Page C01


Sen. Barack Obama with Kennedy at a Pennsylvania rally in April. "I do believe this is the most important election since I was a child," she says. "I just turned 50, and I figured if I'm going to get out there, now is the time." (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)

....Those assigned the job of vetting or investigating potential candidates for vice president usually work in secrecy, and Obama has already demanded that there be no leaks....The job suits Kennedy perfectly: high-profile enough to be a public reminder that she compared Obama to her father, but discreet enough to allow the decidedly private Kennedy to operate out of public view.

Caroline Kennedy is well aware of the import that her name and voice carry, which is why she has used both sparingly over the years -- and always on her own terms. It was she who decided that her unexpected endorsement of Obama in the middle of a close primary would take the form of an op-ed piece in the New York Times, and she who decided when she would do it. "While there were conversations between her and the senator, the timing was totally hers -- she was not coaxed," said Axelrod.

Democratic partisans were delighted that she was getting involved in a non-family member's campaign more than she ever had in the past. But don't expect to see her as a talking head on cable TV. Since endorsing Obama, Kennedy appears to have given only one interview, and that was conducted with Sen. Edward Kennedy, her uncle, as part of the endorsement rollout in February. What she has done, however, is significant: She has traveled the country for Obama, crisscrossing Texas, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, quietly speaking in tiny towns and community centers, and registering voters at train stations and shopping malls.

"People are somewhat surprised sometimes to see me out here, and I'm sometimes surprised myself, because I haven't been that involved in political campaigns," she acknowledged to a few hundred people at the 4-H Center in the tiny town of Boonville, Ind., last month. "But I do believe this is the most important election since I was a child. I just turned 50, and I figured if I'm going to get out there, now is the time." Indeed, someone who knows her said that her decision to come forward for Obama reflects a sincere passion she feels for his campaign, and her belief that he could be the first president since her father to inspire the young and bring a nation together....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/17/AR2008061702858.html

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Her father said it best: The Torch is passed.

[Benhurst]

5. Yeah, to yet another baby boomer.

Unless the unthinkable happens, and McCain somehow gets in. Then it will be passed from a baby boomer to a member of the silent generation.

[Bob Dobbs]

2. Obama/Kennedy, now THAT'S a ticket.

I would fear for both their safeties, however, in this sick country.

[polichick]

3. I'm so glad Caroline stepped out of her comfort zone...

She worked with us in PA, and is every bit as intelligent and down to earth as she seems. Caroline provides the symbolism we need right now ~ as she well knows, I'm sure. Bless her and Uncle Teddy!

[midnight]

4. Caroline Kennedy has a law degree, but not sure

she practiced? For her own safety, her private life, up until now has left us with very little information on what her actual qualifications are? But I'm sure if Dick Cheny can be v.p.,Caroline Kennedy can.

[DeepModem Mom]

6. Just to be clear, I think the WP is talking about her role as VP vetter, not as VP herself. nt