Washington - Caroline Kennedy rolled up her sleeves Friday in the scramble for the New York Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton, batting down a comparison between her and actress Jennifer Lopez.

She was answering charges by New York Congressman Gary Ackerman, who insisted that Kennedy was just a celebrity like J-Lo, and not necessarily entitled to the Senate seat because of her famous name.

"I admire the journey that J-Lo has traveled," Kennedy said in widely broadcast remarks. "She looks pretty good, but in terms of public policy and how we've spent our adult lives, I don't think there's really that much that we have in common."

Kennedy, the last surviving member of the family of the late president John F Kennedy, said her late mother, Jacqueline, "loved campaigning" and "was an incredible patriot."

Kennedy said she thought her mother "would be really proud" that she was campaigning for the mid-term appointment by the governor of New York to the vacant seat.

Her late brother, John, who died in a 1999 plane accident, "would be laughing his head off" at her campaigning if he were alive, she noted.

Clinton is likely leaving the Senate, poised to join the cabinet of her erstwhile rival for the Democratic nomination, president-elect Barack Obama, as secretary of state. The Senate must confirm her nomination after Obama's inauguration on January 20.

Kennedy, 51, who has spent much of her life out of public view, made a splash earlier this year when she joined the campaign for Obama's Democratic nomination. (dpa)