Caroline Kennedy withdraws Senate bid; Reasons in dispute

I am a Caroline Kennedy supporter and think she would make a terrific Senator! That being said it appears there are conflicting stories regarding this news. It may not be true. I hope she decides to accept the job if offered.
The conspiracy side of me thinks she may have been advised not to take the job by TPTB. I feel like Caroline and Obama would be a force to be reckoned with and maybe that is what TPTB realized. However she might have passed over by Patterson. In any case I am disappointed.

From Raw Story:

Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn from consideration for the Senate seat in New York being vacated by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), according to a person informed of her decision who spoke Thursday evening with several papers.

As a lifetime New Yorker it is fine with me that she withdrew. I never was terribly enthused with the idea of her being my representative. I have great respect for her as a person, but she has NO political experience at all. Our state is in deep trouble and needs to be represented by the best possible choice. I think that in the end Patterson is going to ask Cuomo to take the seat.

I wish Caroline well, but am very glad that she is not going to be our Senator.

I've posted a couple of threads on Caroline Kennedy's possible appointment, as you know, but this is new to me. "Rawstory" is just one source, and even there it's not very clear who the person "speaking for" Kennedy is (someone officially appointed by her or Governor Patterson?) I'll be looking for further news.

A couple of weeks ago "The Huffington Post" reported, very authoritatively, that Caroline was definitely Patterson's choice, but nothing came of that either (I posted the article).

I think she deserves the chance. She'll have to be elected in two years anyway, so it's not like Patterson is committing himself indefinitely.

The Senate has been in session for over two weeks now. Why can't the governor make up his mind?

[edit on 21-1-2009 by Sestias]

Well, according to the Associated Press, she is still in the race.

Source tells AP: Kennedy still wants Senate seat By MICHAEL GORMLEY – 40 minutes ago ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A person familiar with Caroline Kennedy's decision says she has renewed her determination to win appointment to the U.S. Senate seat once held by her slain uncle, Sen. Bobby Kennedy. The source says that after her surviving uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, suffered a seizure on Inauguration Day, Caroline Kennedy had misgivings about taking on the new job. The source spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak for Kennedy. Earlier in the day, The New York Times and New York Post reported that Kennedy had ended her monthlong bid to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was confirmed as secretary of state.

WCBSTV is reporting that she's out (again!) for good this time.

article

here was complete confusion Wednesday night over whether or not Caroline Kennedy had dropped her bid for Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate seat.

However, late Wednesday night Kennedy confirmed an earlier New York Post report by releasing a statement saying she is removing herself as a candidate for the now vacant New York Senate seat.

"I informed Gov. Paterson today that for personal reasons I am withdrawing my name from consideration for the United States Senate," Kennedy said in a statement obtained by CBS 2 HD.

And I, for one, am quite happy with her decision. I mean just how many people with absolutely no experience - obama, al franken, caroline kennedy for starters - can the democrats try and pack the government with?



[edit on 1/22/2009 by centurion1211]

Originally posted by Leo Strauss
I am a Caroline Kennedy supporter and think she would make a terrific Senator!

Simple questions:

But why are you a supporter? And what on earth makes you think she is qualified to be a senator or any other elected official? Just because you recognize her last name? She's done nothing to merit such a high office, or any other office really.

According to reports, she dropped out when her vetting disclosed that she didn't report taxes and income for her nanny. In addition, according to those reports, there was some sort of problem with her marriage, but it was not specific, as to what the problem was.

KENNEDY NEVER HAD A CHANCE: SOURCE TAX, NANNY, MARRIAGE WERE ALL ISSUES

www.nypost.com...

I can't spell the new Senators name just yet so I will forgo looking totally stupid and pass on mentioning it. As an Upstater, I am so happy to see us finally represented in the Senate once again. I am beginning to like Patterson, he is a man with his own mind, NY needs that so much.

Knowing that he didn't bow to the popular choice but did an extensive amount of research on the various choices and came up with this woman from my neck of the woods, well I am thrilled. I am one of the NYers that wishes we could make NY two states. Downstate and Western NY. Our problems are very different from the Downstate area and rarely are we represented. Change is everywhere. red

reply to post by redhead57


Her name is Kirsten Gillibrand.

From what little I've read, she appears to be a moderate Democrat, something in short supply these days. Indeed, it appears that the NY Governor made a surprisingly strong pick. Granted, I still need to learn more, but on the surface, I can say that if the party would make a habit of picks such as this one on a nationwide basis, I might be a little bit more interested in voting for them on election day.