What is “Cred” Worth?
December 29, 2008
The two easily recognizable
women pictured above both have a man shown in their background that is
larger than life. On the left, Secretary of State Designate, Hillary
Clinton with husband former President Bill Clinton, and on the right, Caroline
Kennedy with her deceased father, former President John F Kennedy.
Both women have what is
called “cred” or a contraction of credibility which is derived from two
primary components; trustworthiness and expertise and secondary components
of charisma and physical attractiveness. In pop culture we often
hear the expression of “street cred” which refers to the credibility or
acceptability among young or fashionable people.
In the political arena
we often are faced with a different term, that of “gravitas” which embraces
the qualities of substance or depth of personality, or from the dictionary,
“seriousness or sobriety, as of conduct or speech”.
To me it is a wee bit
ironic that both women could end having served in the same New York junior
senator position. One has been elected by virtue of her husband’s
gravitas and her own moxie, while the other may be seated by gubernatorial
appointment because of her father’s.
Of course Caroline can
trade off of Uncle Teddy the senior senator from Massachusetts, who has
already heartily endorsed his niece. Ironically, the same senate
seat was occupied by her Uncle Bobby years ago and she has received the
endorsement from her cousin Kerry, daughter of the late senator Robert
Kennedy.
So in this case the “cred”
that accompanies Caroline is yards deep and meters wide. Governor
David A. Paterson you get the distinct pleasure of deciding this issue,
we wish you the best of luck as you try to find someone else with this
much going for them.
After all, even a blind
man……….OOOOOPS!
