If Caroline Kennedy was not a Kennedy, and had the exact same background and experience that Croline Kennedy has, and let it be known that she wanted to be appointed U.S. Senator from New York, there is no way that she would be considered. She would be laughed off the stage.
A much better appointee and a qualified appointee would be New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. He has a well known New York name, yes, but, along with the name, he brings the qualifications as well.
Lending bipartisan support to that. Agree fully. Just too lazy to go check what I've written about this in the 5 other threads discussing this.