Carpenters For Caroline

Daily News Blogs

Caroline Kennedy has landed what I believe is her first labor endorsement in her non-campaign for Hillary Clinton's US Senate seat in the form of a statement released today by Michael J. Forde, executive secretary-treasurer of the city District Council of Carpenters.

Forde first praised Clinton and the "hard work" she and her staff have done to date in addressing the economic crisis, adding: "While New York may be losing a great civil servant, the country will be gaining a true leader when Senator Clinton is eventually confirmed as the next Secretary of State."

"This leaves us with the considerable question of who will serve the people of the State of New York as our next U.S. Senator," Forde continued. "The people of New York expect their Senators to be not only tenacious in their representation of New Yorkers' needs, but also to be players on a national scale. History has shown that to be true, and our current situation demands it. Senator Clinton filled that role. Senator Charles Schumer certainly does now and hopefully will continue to long into the future.

Furthermore, the New York State Constitution is very clear regarding the appointment of U.S. Senators midterm. The appointment is solely and unequivocally the decision of the Governor. Governor Paterson has made clear his intention to wait until Senator Clinton’s appointment before making his decision. His rationale is solid and his authority to do so is unquestioned.

This situation has led to a “non-campaign” campaign for the position. We have read about and heard from a number of candidates, many of whom we respect and hold in high regard. One such candidate who has made her intention known to the governor directly and who we’ve met with is Caroline Kennedy. What we discovered in our meeting was that Caroline is someone who is intelligent, easy to communicate with and grasps our issues."

"Having been chosen by President-Elect Obama for his Vice Presidential selection Committee also shows us how she is perceived by the most important decisionmaker in America. Her academic pursuits, published works and years of advocacy underscore a serious and goal-oriented individual. We have found her to be qualified on the two aspects vital to being a Senator from New York: someone who can advocate for New Yorkers' needs and someone who will be a national player."

The Carpenters' political director, Stephen McInnis, said that while the union has heard from a number of the candidates vying for Clinton's seat, Kennedy was the only one who asked for an in-person meeting.

That meeting occurred about two weeks ago while Kennedy was making the rounds of labor leaders with her consultant, Josh Isay, including teachers union head Randi Weingarten, who has also been mentioned as a potential successor to Clinton; and 32BJ President Mike Fishman.

Asked why the Carpenters, who, like Kennedy, are a client of Isay's firm, KnickerbockerSKD, had waited until now to declare their support of Kennedy - coincidentally on the very day when a new poll shows her public push for Clinton's seat has cost her in the public's eye - McInnis replied:

"We feel like she's been kind of unfairly beaten up. You guys in the media have focused 99 percent of your attention on ripping her apart. She'd be a national player from the get-go, and there's only a couple of people being considered by the governor like that. We thought she was impressive, and we wanted to put out a statement to that fact. It was time we made our feelings known."

McInnis said that Kennedy and Isay asked the Carpenters to be helpful back when the meeting took place, but never formally asked for this statement to be released.