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Lifting veil of privacy, friends discuss Kennedy
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-11 10:57

Compared to the sharp-elbowed style common among New York politicians, Kennedy's personality in a series of recent media interviews has seemed quiet, soft-spoken.

But those who have worked with Kennedy said her sometimes reserved demeanor could be misleading. More than one spoke of an instance where they had watched her listen carefully to each person's point of view, then argue her point calmly but tenaciously until she achieved her goal.

"If you aren't as loud as I am, often people mistake that for not being effective and that's just wrong," said Elaine Jones, the former president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where Kennedy served on the board. "I know how able, substantive and tough-minded Caroline is. Now others have got to see that in her. And she may have to project it."

While she never practiced law, Kennedy did heavy-duty research before board meetings and contributed to detailed legal debates over which cases would be selected by the NAACP fund, Jones said.

Kennedy also has been instrumental in selecting at least some of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award winners, who are honored for risking their careers to take a stand for their principles.

For the 2000 honor, she persuaded the award committee to select a relative unknown, Hilda Solis, now the likely incoming secretary of labor, said Kirk, a committee member. Kennedy won the panel over with her argument that it was important to acknowledge lesser-known public servants so as to inspire others at every level of government.

Kennedy writes all her own speeches, says another longtime friend and colleague, Heather Campion. Preparing for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, speech writer and strategist Bob Shrum recounted handing her a draft of her speech, only to see her rewrite it from top to bottom.

Kirk said she seems to have taken to heart an oft-repeated family quote that she has included in her speeches again and again over the years: "Each of us can make a difference and all of us must try."

After years of focusing on her young children, Kennedy began to look for an alternative to the books on which she had been working.

"I'd like to work with people. Being a writer is a solitary job," she told Campion shortly before she went to work for the New York City Board of Education in 2002.

In her 22 months working three days a week at the agency, she was credited with raising tens of millions of dollars and revamping fundraising operations. Friends argue those fundraising skills would serve her well if she's chosen as senator. Whoever is selected by Gov. David Paterson to fill Clinton's seat would have to run for election to the seat in 2010, and — if successful — again in 2012.

Kennedy's endorsement of Obama for the Democratic nomination came at a vital moment in his campaign, and friends said she loved campaigning and seemed invigorated by it.

"Presumably she could have had an appointment," said Campion, who at Kennedy's request broke decades of public silence about their friendship. "There are a lot of great ambassadorships," Campion said she told Kennedy earlier.

There seemed easier ways to contribute without thrusting herself into the intensive public scrutiny that would come with a Senate bid.

However, Campion recounted, Kennedy was unconvinced by the warning.

She said: "But I want to make a difference ... and I love New York."

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