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Caroline Kennedy withdraws her name

Valhalla's picture
Submitted by Valhalla on Wed, 01/21/2009 - 7:31pm

according to the Post and the NYT

Ok, I'll start with the obvious speculation (not that we'll ever know) -- did Paterson tell her 'no way' and then give her the opportunity to avoid embarassment by dropping out herself?

eta punctuation, always a plus.

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TonyRz's picture
Submitted by TonyRz on

She withdrew "schlossberg" from circulation months ago.

Drrrump. Chish.

Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week...

caseyOR's picture
Submitted by caseyOR on

cites a spokesperson who says Paterson told Kennedy the seat was hers if she wanted it, but Kennedy decided to withdraw. The reason given in the Times is Teddy's poor health.

Historiann's picture
Submitted by Historiann on

I caught that bit about her uncle's health, too. I think it's just more evidence of her ineptness for public life that she can't come up with a reasonable pretext to withdraw. (Teddy has a wife and homes in Virginia and Massachusetts, so I don't get how CK will nurse him from the upper East Side.)

Why not the "I just realized that these are my last few years at home with my teenaged children" excuse? Respectable, accurate, and no one will question it (although they won't believe it any more than the ailing uncle excuse.)

Thanks for the pickup, Valhalla.

Valhalla's picture
Submitted by Valhalla on

She withdrew after Paterson let her know she wasn't the pick.

Given the absence of any other indicia of reliability, I lean toward the story that serves The Village least.

Damon's picture
Submitted by Damon on

I was just thinking about this, today, given Hillary's confirmation. I'm expecting the announcement to be at least by the end of the week. This was really quite a surprise, and the timing was strange (just as Hillary was being confirmed).

DeepInIt's picture
Submitted by DeepInIt on

Seems like this whole thing was dragged out and brought to the Post to cause the maximum embarrassment for Kennedy; if it's Clinton's doing, I'd call it a justified payback but the rest? If Paterson had someone else in mind, he should have named them when Blago was blowing up.

zuzu's picture
Submitted by zuzu on

Blago moved because Illinois had an open seat, Obama having withdrawn. Clinton was still in her seat, and didn't intend to leave it until she had been confirmed as SoS. So naming a replacement -- especially when you had dipshits like Vitter and DeMint and Cornyn threatening to derail her appointment -- before she was ready to leave would be premature.

He also didn't string *anyone* along; if Kennedy believed that she had the job for the asking, then she wasn't paying attention to Paterson, who was interviewing and considering many candidates. Not to mention, he was pushing back against the PR machine she was ginning up, which never could quite counteract the miserable impression she gave to the people of upstate, who already feel marginalized, by not only refusing to answer why she wanted the job, but also literally running from the upstate press when they tried to talk to her during her ill-fated tour.

From a story in the Times local section, Paterson was all but sure of his choice on Monday afternoon but would not make an announcement before the weekend. Kennedy probably got wind of what the decision was and decided to bow out rather than be publicly passed over.

pie's picture
Submitted by pie on

Good grief. If she's shown anything, it's that she's a team player. The decision wasn't hers to make.

lambert's picture
Submitted by lambert on

Power and money in the state of New York, with maybe a smidgeon of "do the right thing," who knows.

Which, to my mind, is better than power and money in the Village, since making New York the city and state "work" might bear some closer resemblance to what people actually need than what the Village wants.

Submitted by jawbone on

that's all, folks.

I'm glad Carolyn took herself out of contention--she did not seem ready for prime time and perhaps she will put in some work to be a politician, if that's what she feels she can do with her life.

So, from my keyboard to Paterson's mind: liberal, intelligent, energetic, good speaker, liberal, liberal, liberal. Real liberal. Strong on universal health care. Liberal, liberal, liberal. Fighter! Fighting liberal.

(I miss you in the senater already, Hillary.)

Damon's picture
Submitted by Damon on

If Caroline wants to come back and run for the seat and does great progressive and liberal things in between now and then, I'd have no problem supporting her. She'll definitely now have enough time to find herself.

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