Tales from the Trail

Slightly more than half of Americans say Caroline Kennedy has what it takes to serve in the U.S. Senate, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Poll. 

Kennedy, 51, is campaigning to fill the New York senate seat held by Hillary Clinton, who has been nominated for Secretary of State.

The only person who gets a vote is New York Gov. David Paterson, who will appoint any replacement for Clinton. 

Kennedy, a lawyer, has been involved in education issues but has never held office. She has name recognition and membership in an American political dynasty. Her uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, is one of the most powerful members of the Senate. 

But is Caroline Kennedy qualified to a senator?

Fifty-two percent of Americans say “yes” and 42 percent say “not” qualified, according to the poll of 1,013 adults published on Monday. 

WASHINGTON – Women are set to make history next month in the 220-year-old U.S. Senate.

For the first time since the Senate opened its doors in 1789, a pair of female lawmakers are in line to lead one of the chamber’s full committees.

Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana is set to chair the Small Business Committee and Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine is positioned to serve as the panel’s top Republican.

WASHINGTON – With campaign observers in a frenzy awaiting the impending results of the 2008 vice presidential sweepstakes, filmmaker Michael Moore has stepped up with a provocative plea to an advisor to Barack Obama: “Caroline, Pull a Cheney!”

That would be Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, and the head of the group searching to find a running mate for the Democratic nominee.

“I cannot think of a more winning ticket than one that reads: “OBAMA-KENNEDY,” Moore wrote in an open letter to Kennedy posted on his Web site.

WASHINGTON – With the clock ticking on his hunt for a running mate, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama spent nearly three hours on Monday meeting with his vice presidential search team and campaign advisers.

Obama visited the downtown office of Eric Holder, a former deputy attorney general who is leading the process of researching and analyzing potential vice presidential picks, and emerged with little to say.

Asked by reporters who he met with, Obama replied: “Some guys.” As he got into his car, he asked reporters how they were doing then told them: “Get back on the bus.”

NEW YORK – White House hopeful Barack Obama had reporters in his entourage wondering on Wednesday if his search for a vice presidential running mate is intensifying.

While in Washington for some Senate votes, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee dropped by a Pennsylvania Avenue office building for some meetings but the campaign would not say what they were about.

The building happened to be the same one where former U.S. deputy attorney general Eric Holder works. Holder and Caroline Kennedy, daughter of slain U.S. president John F. Kennedy, are heading up Obama’s search for a No. 2.