Lots of wacky high-jinks with Caroline Kennedy last night. I think it’s fair to say that her withdrawl from the race was badly bungled by her and her team:
The Paterson administration scrambled to respond to the news, providing contradictory answers to reporters’ questions. Just before 7 p.m. Wednesday, Errol Cockfield, Mr. Paterson’s press secretary, said the governor had dismissed reports that Ms. Kennedy was withdrawing as “just the rumor of the day.”
More than an hour later, Mr. Cockfield asked that that statement not be published, and suggested that more information would be provided by the governor’s office. But neither he nor the governor’s communications director, Risa B. Heller, would respond to further questions about Ms. Kennedy.
And this AP News alert sums up the confusion quite well:
Source: Caroline Kennedy remains in contest to fill Hillary Clinton’s NY Senate seat. (Corrects APNewsAlert with source saying Kennedy had withdrawn.)
It goes without saying that this is why it doesn’t make sense to have a completely untested candidate take over a Senate Seat. When rookie candidates make asses out of themselves on a smaller stage — say a House or State Assembly race — it ain’t no thang. But screwing with this much fanfare isn’t good news for anyone….except Rudy Giuliani, of course.
Update: Just to clarify, she is out now, per the first article I linked to. As demi notes:
This is, of course, great news for the Republican leadership in the New York State Senate, since Democratic women who are so scorned will never support to party again. (See, Clinton, Hillary.)
Given that New York is a center-right state and that Democrats will have a trouble capturing the Jewish vote now that they’ve put an Israel-hating Muslim in the White House, this pretty much guarantees a Rudy Guiliani cakewalk into the Senate.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS! FOR CAROLINE!
Only not.
(Why does your site HATE more than one exclamation mark?)
Comrade Jake
Yeah it’s all fun and games until Paterson appoints Geraldine Ferraro.
yet another jeff
Yeah, I hate that we can’t do a good tribute to Idiotic with the draconian limitations on exclamation points.
NPR this morning says she’s out…
demimondian
There’s a formal note to AP announcing her withdrawal, so I’m inclined to think she’s out. This is, of course, great news for the Republican leadership in the New York State Senate, since Democratic women who are so scorned will never support to party again. (See, Clinton, Hillary.)
GSD
I hope she fails.
-Pus Limberger
TheHatOnMyCat
If we must stick to royalty, Paterson can always appoint Queen Latifah.
TheFountainHead
Maybe Patterson could appoint Paula Abdul? I hear she’ll be looking for a new gig soon…
p.a.
C’mon people! Let’s turn this into a positive. Since there is no evidence the MSM has weaned itself from Republican memes, and also no evidence it has gotten any better at reporting/analyzing policy issues, maybe we can keep this Caroline Kennedy will she/won’t she/can she going for 4 years! The OTeam runs the country, and the media do what they do best, focus on a sorry insignificant soap opera. New York is underrepresented, but hey, you have to take one for the team sometimes.
The First Family can also spend 4 years dog-shopping. Sorry kids, but the Mary Hart end of the media needs to be distracted too.
MattF
I’ve got nothing against CK– her early endorsement of Obama was smart and politically gutsy. But there are skills, learned and natural, that a professional politician just needs to have. Obama makes it look effortless– but, as we see here, it isn’t.
DougJ
Not a bad idea. Four years of good news for Rudy Giuliani.
Media Browski
What everyone ignores about CK is that she’s a fundraising giant, and that NY Sen seats are a major source of Dem money. HRC was a cash-cow (misogyny!); having a celeb in that seat is beneficial to the party financially.
If the Dems lose that seat next go-round due to lack of fundraising . . . well, a pox on them.
Brian J
If my fellow Democrats and I in New York cannot beat Il Duce Giuliani in 2010, should he run, the party should simply disband.
NonyNony
@demimondian:
Wait, I think I missed a memo. Do the New York Republicans have anything remotely resembling a leadership?
@Brian J:
I thought it was "Il Douche Giuliani".
And yeah, at this point Giuliani is so discredited that he should be totally stoppable. I’d be looking to see who else the New York Republicans might try to run for the seat instead. Any chance that Bloomberg might give it a shot as an Independent? Or have a chance in hell of getting it if he tries?
Joshua Norton
Supposedly she heard that Paterson sort of mentioned yesterday that young Andrew Cuomo might be a better pick – since he actually has actual experience representing the citizens of New York.
I find it hard to believe that she just jumped the gun and dropped out on the say-so of a supposed rumor, but apparently she has.
John
Supposedly she heard that Paterson sort of mentioned yesterday that young Andrew Cuomo might be a better pick – since he actually has actual experience representing the citizens of New York.
Young Andrew Cuomo? The dude’s 51 years old
Mac G
Rudy will run for Governor against Patterson and Rep Peter King is running for Senate. This is a huge blow for Democrats, Patterson and progressives. Kirsten Gillibrand is probably the likely choice and she is basically a Republican. Her 100 percent NRA rating, anti choice views, and Blue Dog credentials make her a tough sell to NYC.
Caroline had solid progressive views and she would raise so much money with her star power for the next 2 elections in 10, 12.
Caroline never should have aligned herself with Bloomberg’s people and she received very bad advice from these goons.
JosieJ
Caroline dropping out isn’t that big of a tragedy. The Republican Party in this state is in total disarray, and in no shape to take political advantage of any Democratic missteps.
Rudy Giuliani is solidly hated in this state, both upstate and down. Hillary was beating him like a rented mule in their senate race, before he dropped out due to prostate cancer.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Andrew Cuomo keeps his powder dry for a possible run for Governor (and from there, the Presidency in 2016).
raff
Huh. The NY Times is now reporting that Kennedy dropped out becuase of "Problems involving taxes and a household employee that surfaced during the vetting[…]". Posted without comment.
Also, while I was surfing around the NYT, I noticed that Anne Coulter’s book debuted at #2. I need a f**kin’ drink.
raff
Oops, forgot to include a link to the NY Times story.
pattonbt
I guess that opens it up for Harriet Christian?
PUMAS!!!!!