You know, you know?

More on the Caroline Kennedy-for-Senate story. JFK’s daughter is getting cuffed about pretty good as the idea of Camelot II — with her claiming uncle Robert Kennedy’s seat in the Senate — shifts from merely whimsical to plausible. A sign of the temperature shift is an article in the New York Daily News that includes every “you know” and “um” that passed Kennedy’s lips during a recent interview. Newspapers often omit such benign clutter from an interviewee’s direct quotes for clarity’s sake. But not in this case — suggesting a subtle attempt to show how unpolished and halting this Kennedy is without a little literary airbrushing. It’s akin to the way some news outlets went with unvarnished Sarah Palin quotes during the recent presidential campaign. Indeed, Kennedy unretouched reveals a person who struggles to put into words a compelling case for her candidacy. The interesting thing will be seeing how Kennedy handles the punches, including a few cheap shots. As they say, it ain’t beanbag.

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