ANDERSON COUNTY — Have you heard the blogosphere rumors about Caroline Kennedy? They say she’s a long-shot possibility as Barack Obama’s vice presidential running mate.

Crazy? Maybe.

But the definition of “crazy,” at least in political terms, has been stretched beyond belief lately. When you have candidates trading barbs that involve Paris Hilton, with Ms. Hilton herself stepping in to defend her “reputation,” you know that somewhere we’ve gotten off track. Way off track.

We need someone like Caroline Kennedy to steer us back in the right direction.

Last month Obama named Kennedy to the team helping him choose a running mate, then immediately started trotting her around to high-profile campaign events. Reportedly, at some venues, the former president’s daughter received far more attention than the man who will be our Democratic presidential nominee.

In some ways, Kennedy would be a strong addition to the ticket. Her main asset, of course, is that instantly recognizable name. (And tellingly, she seems to have shed “Schlossberg,” her husband’s last name that she carried for more than two decades.) The Kennedy name calls up fond memories of a time when America was hopeful and energetic — when a freshly inaugurated, youthful president said, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you do for your country” — and our hearts stirred.

On Nov. 22, 1963, my mother picked me up after school. Her eyes were red-rimmed. The car radio was on.

“The president has been shot,” she said.

I was in second grade. On our black-and-white TV, I stared at the news pictures of Caroline — a few days shy of her sixth birthday — watching her father’s hearse go by.

Like most Kennedys, her life has been punctuated by loss: her father’s assassination; her uncle’s shooting five years later; her mother’s death at age 64; her brother’s fatal airplane crash. Amidst it all, she moved through her life with quiet grace, marrying an art historian, rearing three children, building a dual career as attorney and author.

Kennedy is a patriot. She has co-written two books about the Constitution, and edited a collection of writings on the United States. She has represented her family at state funerals and the opening of presidential libraries. She’s an adviser to the Harvard Institute of Politics, at her alma mater.It’s true: She has no political posts on her resume. But this is a woman who has been around government all her life. Her uncle, who became a strong influence in her life after JFK’s death, is a long-serving U.S. senator. She, perhaps more than anyone in Washington, understands the sacrifices political office demands. It took her father, and her innocence, from her.

Caroline Kennedy probably won’t end up on the ticket with Obama. She’s too long of a long shot. I predict Obama will go the safe route: He’ll choose a — tah-dah! — rich, middle-aged, white man.

That’s OK. I have a better idea. A bigger idea. One we might be ready for in a few years.

Caroline for President, 2012.

Jeanne Malmgren can be reached at malmgrenj@independentmail.com