I take a back seat to no one when it comes to being a John F. Kennedy hero-worshipper. I shook hands with him in 1960. I was 11 years old. He was campaigning with Terry Sanford, and they stopped at Glenwood Village to change cars. JFK was to me what Obama is to my kids.

So why am I not enamored with the idea that Caroline Kennedy should be a United States Senator?

Yes, it would certainly be nice to continue the 56-year-long tradition of a Kennedy in the Senate.

But what – beyond her name and star power – does the late President’s daughter offer?

She was never publicly active in politics until she endorsed Obama this year. She has spoken out vaguely in favor of non-controversial things like the arts, public service, the Bill of Rights and the need for more profiles in courage. All good, that.

But – unlike, say, Hillary Clinton – Caroline has shown no appetite for the hard, grueling work of politics. No listening tours through upstate New York. No gritty, day-to-day work winning over real politicians, building coalitions and passing real legislation.

One Democratic friend of mine – a Hillary supporter who came around to Obama – sees something hypocritical in the Kennedys objecting to another Clinton in the White House, but now mounting a campaign to put another Kennedy in the Senate.

Sour grapes, maybe. But, more and more, Senate seats seem to go only to those with Big Names or Big Money – or both.

Is the Senate becoming a de facto House of Lords?

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