Now that Caroline Kennedy has spoken at length about her interest in Hillary Clinton's senate seat, people are definitely listening, but opinions are still clearly mixed.

"I like her. I think she can do a good job," said one Long Island City resident.

"I think she's not qualified and she's getting by purely on name and I don't agree with that," said another resident.

In NY1's exclusive interview Friday, Kennedy answered some of the biggest questions from her critics. First and foremost -- does she have the experience to do the job?

"I think I bring a lifetime of experience to this in my family public service is the greatest honor anyone can have," said Kennedy.

Some voters in Long Island City said that's not necessarily the experience they are looking for.

"I think she's very good. Probably has the right qualifications but not the right experience politically, so I think she'd be better two years from now," said one resident.

"I think to get things done in the senate you need some kind of experience in that type of legislative body," said another resident.

What about running on her name only?

"If my last name weren't Kennedy, maybe I would have run for office a long time ago," said Kennedy.

"I don't know anything about what she stands for. I think she shot up out of nowhere and she's purely riding on her name and I'd like to know more about where she stands on certain issues," said one resident.

"I'm not sure about her track record, but I think being a Kennedy is definitely going to help her," said another resident.

What about the news that she missed exercising her right to vote in several elections? Kennedy herself offered no excuses, saying she didn't realize it herself.

"I was dismayed by my voting record," said Kennedy.

"I definitely think that's a bad thing. Because how's she supposed to stay abreast of what's going on if she's not out there voting with the regular people," said one resident.

Others say they believe a perfect voting record among politicians is rare.

"What about she hasn't voted in some elections? That's alright, neither have any of the other people in congress," said another resident.

Kennedy still has several weeks to make her case for the senate. Governor Paterson isn't expected to make his decision known until after Senator Clinton's confirmation hearings for Secretary of State.