Let me start by saying that I have no issue with Caroline Kennedy as an individual. What I do have a problem with is a politically connected aristocrat getting handed a senate seat. For all of the swooning we do about the Kennedy family, I get uneasy about people embracing political dynasties. And at its heart, an appointment of Caroline Kennedy to this seat would be yet another example of the NYC elite shutting the rest of the state out of the political conversation.
I was born and raised in Syracuse, and, like many others my age, spent my childhood hearing economic doom and gloom about our region. Every year, some large company in the area shut its doors, laying off hundreds to thousands of workers and shrinking the local tax base. Everyone knew people who packed up and left for North Carolina or some other place down south because they couldn't find a decent job in our area. This kept occurring despite an experienced work force, a history of industrial innovation, and plenty of respected colleges in the region to draw new talent from. Free trade and a cohort of short-sighted managers have been a cause of this, but bad policy and neglect by a myopic political class based in the downstate region have continued to hurt us.
I hate to sound like some hack from the NY Republican party, but NYC and the rest of the downstate region have held far too much power in this state. Sure, upstate has had its share of powerful state senate leaders, but they've been mostly been corrupt fools like Joe Bruno. It has been over three decades since there has been a senator from Upstate NY, and far longer since there has been a governor from there. Downstate pols will pay attention to the needs of the rest of the state, although to what level depends on how much they need our votes. I concede that downstate has roughly two thirds of the state's population, but this majority was not so lopsided a few decades ago before the region started its decline.
But regardless a pick of Caroline Kennedy would likely harden the deep cynicism of millions of upstaters towards our political leadership. For deacdes, residents of the region have seen a once booming economy get outsourced as their communities depopulate and their children exit the region in droves for opportunities elsewhere. A wealthy political scion insulated in upper class Manhattan cannot understand their struggles, no matter how hard he or she attempts to. I am sure that if she was picked, Caroline Kennedy would work to represent all of NY State, but she would not have the perspective that to address the problems and be an effective voice for the region.