Caroline: Ted would be 'so proud' of Obama

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CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Caroline Kennedy said if her uncle, the late Ted Kennedy, were alive he'd be a staunch advocate for Democrats at their convention in Charlotte, N.C.

Democrats came into their party's convention without a member of the fabled political clan serving in Congress for the first time since 1944, though the daughter of President John F. Kennedy expressed confidence that her cousin Joe would change that. Joe Kennedy is running for a House seat in Massachusetts.

Speaking to the CBS morning show Thursday, Kennedy said her uncle, the longtime Bay State senator and liberal icon who once defeated GOP nominee Mitt Romney to retain his seat, would be "so proud" of President Barack Obama's accomplishments during his first term. She said the late senator would, if he were still alive, say "some of the same things that President Clinton said [Wednesday night] but he would probably say them louder and with more feeling."

As for her own political aspirations, Caroline insisted she has "no plans" to run for office, though she did express interest in being appointed to the Senate seat in New York vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton when she took the post of secretary of state in 2009. Kennedy did not earn the appointment from former New York Gov. David Paterson, who instead tapped Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, who won election to the remainder of Clinton's term two years ago and is expected to win a full, six-year term of her own this November.