Caroline Kennedy’s quest to enter the US Senate has suffered a self-inflicted blow in a series of interviews in which she can only be described as . . . um . . . excruciatingly, you know, unerudite.

During a series of meetings with the New York press, one of which was recorded and is now being admired on YouTube in all its ineloquent awkwardness, the daughter of President Kennedy was vague, unconvincing and displayed a potentially ruinous verbal tic.

In one sequence, lasting 2 minutes and 27 seconds, Ms Kennedy, 51, revealed that she had inherited none of the eloquence, energy or charisma associated with other members of America’s foremost political dynasty: she used the phrase “you know” no fewer than 30 times.

Asked to justify her candidacy – after days spent with handlers advising her on how to fill Hillary Clinton’s vacant New York Senate seat – she began in a dull monotone: “Um, this is a fairly unique moment both in our, you know, in our country’s history, and, and in, in, you know, my own life, and um, you know, we are facing, you know, unbelievable challenges, our economy, you know, healthcare, people are losing their jobs here in New York obviously um, arh, you know. . . ”

Yesterday The New York Times, which published the interview with Ms Kennedy on Sunday – calling her forceful, but vague and largely undefined – released the full 8,500-word transcript of the encounter, revealing a verbal landscape knee-deep in “you knows”. She used the phrase a grand total of 144 times.

The jeers now pouring into the blogosphere and on to websites demonstrate how unforgiving the modern media, with their new technologies, can be. Just a few years ago Ms Kennedy’s interviews would have appeared only in newspapers, with her verbal tic edited out.

Before the interviews she had faced growing opposition to her candidacy from some prominent New Yorkers, who said she lacked the experience for the job and was acting as if she were entitled to the seat because of her ancestry. Ms Kennedy has led an extremely private life, is a mother of three, a bestselling author, a lawyer and philanthropist – but has no political experience.

It also emerged that she had donated little money to other Democratic candidates in the past and had often failed to vote in elections.

Ms Kennedy wants the New York Governor, David Paterson – who has the sole power to pick a successor to Mrs Clinton now that she is becoming Secretary of State – to appoint her to the seat once held by her uncle, Bobby Kennedy. The weekend interview was aimed at making her case. It has not succeeded.

“The wheels of the bandwagon are coming off,” wrote Michael Goodwin, a veteran columnist with the New York Daily News. “Fantasy is giving way to inevitable truth. The truth is that Kennedy is not ready for the job and doesn’t deserve it. Her quest is becoming a cringe-inducing experience.”

Ms Kennedy’s justification for getting the seat was not a tour de force. “You know, we want to have all kinds of different voices, you know, representing us, and I think what I bring to it is, you know, my experience as a mother, as a women, as a lawyer, you know, I’ve been an education activist for the last six years here, and, you know. . . ”

She is still a strong contender for the seat, but there are half a dozen serious candidates, including Andrew Cuomo, the state attorney-general, who went through a bitter divorce with Ms Kennedy’s cousin, Kerry Kennedy. Ms Kennedy told the Daily News that she had spoken to Mr Cuomo, and added a ringing endorsement: “As I’ve said, he was a friend, a family member, and um so, and uh obviously, he’s, you know, he’s also had an impressive career in public office.”

Talking trash

Gore Vidal His meeting with David Dimbleby on US election night became a YouTube hit. Vidal told Dimbleby he had no idea who his interviewer was, then declared himself too knowledgeable to be interviewed on television

Sarah Palin In September, when the CBS presenter Katie Couric asked John McCain’s running-mate to provide an example of their proposals for reforming the ailing banking industry, she replied: “I’ll try and find some and I’ll bring them to you”

Nancy Dell’Olio Made so little sense while discussing the credit crunch with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight that he finally told her: “I have no idea what you are talking about”

Tracey Emin Took part in a memorable live debate on Channel 4 in 1997. “I want to be with my friends,” she announced. “I’m drunk. I want to phone my mum. She’s going to be embarrassed by this conversation”

Source: Times archives

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