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Photograph of Kennedy at the Democratic National Convention this past summer by Ron Edmonds/AP
Governor David Paterson confirmed that Caroline Kennedy called him to discuss Hillary Clinton's soon-to-be vacated Senate seat. He said, "She told me she was interested in the position... She’d like at some point to sit down and tell me what she thinks her qualifications are.” While Paterson has said he will not decide on an appointee until next year, one Democratic source tells the Daily News, "She is in. I don't see how he [Paterson] says no. He has to do it."
The NY Times offers this reasoning from a person "who had advised Mr. Paterson" (pointing out that Paterson will have to run for Governor in 2010, as will Kennedy, if appointed, for Senate): "The upside of her candidacy is that the 2010 ballot will read Kennedy - Paterson. David craves national attention and money. If you connect the dots, it leads to her.” Another person in Paterson's circles tells the Times:
Ms. Kennedy and Mr. Paterson had spoken several times in recent days and that the governor had grown increasingly fond of her...The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid antagonizing the governor, said that Mr. Paterson also had come to see Ms. Kennedy as a strong potential candidate whose appointment would keep a woman in the seat and whose personal connections would allow her to raise the roughly $70 million required to hold on to the seat in the coming years.The Times also notes that Kennedy has become excited about the prospect of being Senator. Still, there are doubters. Rep. Anthony Weiner said last night, "We don't know if Caroline has that fire in the belly. Being senator of New York is a 2-4/7, 365-day-a-year endeavor." Which might be why Kennedy hired Josh Isay, who Politico calls a "major Democratic fixer...who has deep connections to New York powerhouses Sen. Charles Schumer, Mayor MIchael Bloomberg and the Rev. Al Sharpton."
Sharpton is ready to show his support: He told Politico that he told Kennedy about a "lady that wanted to run for U.S. Senate [who] came to Harlem, to the House of Justice, and they told me she wasn’t qualified; they told me she was just there because of who she was married to — and that was Hillary Clinton," while he defended Kennedy's supposed lack of experience to the News, "Elected office is not the only area of public service that establishes leadership in this country."
The Post's editorial wholeheartedly supports Kennedy for Senate, noting her access to President-elect Obama plus, "Kennedy's selection would be a welcome sign of Paterson's willingness to reject the politics of pander and special-interest pressures merely to satisfy some ethnic or geographic quota." The Daily News, however, wants the chance to size up her abilities. As for Republicans, well, let's say that the prospect of a Kennedy taking the Senate seat is enticing: Rep. Peter King (R-Long Island) said, "If anything, it makes me more determined to run [in 2010]. As far as record of achievement, I strongly believe that I'm much more qualified, much more experienced, and have an independent record. Nothing against Caroline Kennedy, but I don't think anyone has a right to a seat."
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yeah, Peter King is gonna beat Caroline Kennedy
mhmm
If she was in Illinois, she could just buy a seat.
I can't see how she's any more or less qualified than the average rookie senator.
name recognition does not a senator make!!
andrew cuomo for senator!!
She is starting to look like the crypt keeper.
"Being senator of New York is a 24/7, 365-day-a-year endeavor." HUH? What has Hillary been doing the last two years? If she worked 2 to 4 days in the past 365 as a New York senator that would be giving her credit above and beyond what she put in.
And Pull My Finger she kind of looks like her mother but without the looks.
Uncle Ted's glioma is throbbing with anticipation over this. Someone get him under a gamma knife stat!
Hillary had never served in an elected office, carpet bagged her way in here, and got elected. I don't see how Caroline Kennedy is any less qualified. With the clout of her name and her friendship with Bam, she could be rather effective.
Why not? She was a good host of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and made a nice change from that overbearing Regis Philbin.
What the hell is Weiner talking about?
No one jockeying for this seat is notably "qualified," whatever that means for a Senate seat. What Kennedy has is connections and access, which are important in the Senate -- and are really the only qualifications the outgoing Senator had when she took office.
If the state's going to have a Freshman senator, better to have one who can pick up the phone and call anyone else in government and have the call answered immediately.
^ I wouldn't take her phone calls: for all I know she might be soliciting another charitable donation.
She's 51 and doesn't look like she has had any work done, so I think she looks pretty damn good [5]
Didn't a LOT of money just get spent renaming a bridge in a family member's honor?
And now she's up for a Senate seat.
See how fuckin slick we are in NY. Blagojevich should take lessons.
Come on, that's not even her. It's John Kerry in drag.
Isn't it?