Here’s a statement from the Reverend Al Sharpton saying that Caroline Kennedy’s work with public schools and the books she has written “more than qualifies her to be Senator.” Sharpton said he got a call from Caroline Kennedy earlier today about her interest in replacing Hillary Clinton in the United States Senate.
Sharpton may not seem like the most obvious surrogate for Kennedy. But it should be noted that Sharpton and Kennedy now share consultants at Knickerbocker SKD. [see update]
Here’s Sharpton’s statement:
“I received a call this afternoon from Caroline Kennedy who expressed to me her interest in the United States Senate seat open in New York City with the choice of Senator Clinton becoming Secretary of State.
We discussed briefly our mutual work on education reform and our concern that the nation move in the right direction in education and other areas.
I told her that while I do have discussions from time to time with Governor Paterson on a variety of important issues, we have not had any meaningful discussions about her or any other potential candidate to date. Further, I told Ms. Kennedy that I will respect whatever choice Governor Paterson makes for New York’s next Senator.
Since the possibility of Ms. Kennedy’s candidacy for the Senate has, understandably, already generated a fair degree of debate and discussion, I feel compelled to state that I unequivocally disagree with those that say she is not qualified and could not bring needed leadership to this state and country. My knowledge of her in the area of education and on behalf of children generally, the fact that she has written several books, and her other civic involvement more than qualifies her to be Senator. Ms. Kennedy is an accomplished author on Constitutional Law, the Bill of Rights, and political courage. She is also a lawyer.
Elected office is not the only area of public service that establishes leadership in this country. We just elected a community organizer as President of the United States.
Finally, I also invited Ms. Kennedy to dine with me at Sylvia’s this week in Harlem and reminded her that I took Senator Obama there during his campaign so it’s a good luck stop since he did all right.”
UPDATE: Sharpton spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger emailed to say he used to be a client of Knickerbocker SKD, but is not presently.
