1.27.2008

Caroline, No

Where did your long hair go
Where is the girl I used to know
How could you lose that happy glow
Oh, Caroline no

So not only did Hillary Clinton get clobbered by Barack Obama in yesterday's South Carolina Democrat primary, but now Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president John F. Kennedy, has endorsed Barack Obama in a New York Times editorial. It seems that she sees him as better embodying the legacy of her father than Hillary Clinton does.

Who took that look away
I remember how you used to say
You'd never change, but that's not true
Oh, Caroline you

The Clintons, like most middle-aged Democrats, have fond memories of the short administration of President Kennedy. Indeed, one picture that Bill Clinton used extensively was one of himself as a starstruck teenager posing with President Kennedy.

Break my heart
I want to go and cry
It's so sad to watch a sweet thing die
Oh, Caroline why?

Ms. Kennedy has always been a very private person and has rarely if ever endorsed a presidential candidate. She thinks that Obama could be as inspirational to this generation as her father was to young, idealistic people in the early 1960s. That may or may not be true, but it certainly is an unwelcome endorsement to Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Could I ever find in you again
The things that made me love you so much then
Could we ever bring 'em back once they have gone
Oh, Caroline no

(lyrics by Brian Wilson)