he's been in the thick of the fannie and freddie debacle from day one....did you see this? yet another politician who thinks taxes are 'optional' (at least she had the grace and good sense to withdraw her name, unlike geithner)
KENNEDY NEVER HAD A SHOT: SOURCE
TAX, NANNY, MARRIAGE WERE ALL ISSUES
By MAGGIE HABERMAN IN NY and FREDRIC U. DICKER IN ALBANY
OUT OF RUNNING: Caroline Kennedy, stumping with Barack Obama last year, blew it following bad interviews with the media and state officials, sources said.
OUT OF RUNNING: Caroline Kennedy, stumping with Barack Obama last year, blew it following bad interviews with the media and state officials, sources said.
January 22, 2009
In a stunning revelation, a source close to Gov. David Paterson insisted this afternoon that the governor "had no intention" of picking Caroline Kennedy for New York's vacant senate seat - because she was "mired" in an issue over taxes, her nanny and possibly her marriage.
Kennedy was "mired in some potentially embarrassing personal issues," the source said, citing tax liabilities and worker compensation liabilities connected to the employment of a nanny.
The source also said the state of her marriage may have presented a problem as well.
"She has a tax problem that came up in the vetting and a potential nanny issue," the soruce said. "And reporters are starting to look at her marriage more closely," the soruce continued, refusing to provide any specifics.
Gossip columns have reported for more than a year that Kennedy's marriage to Ed Schlossberg is essentially over, and the gossip site Gawker.com has reported rumors that she's been linked to New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger.
Kennedy denied any issue over her marriage in an interview with The Post last month. Aides to Kennedy and a Times spokesperson couldn't immediately be reached.
But hours earlier, a source close to Kennedy told The Post she'd bowed out because she'd become aware of a personal issue early Wednesday afternoon, but that it had nothing to do with her uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and his ailing health, contrary to some reports citing "a family source."
Kennedy withdrew from consideration to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, just two months after rocking the New York political landscape by throwing her hat in the ring.
She confirmed the news publicly in a statement released shortly after midnight today - hours after The Post exclusively revealed her decision last night.
"I informed Gov. Paterson today that, for personal reasons, I am withdrawing my name from consideration for the United States Senate," the 51-year-old Camelot daughter said.
Kennedy's move reshuffled the deck of contenders for Paterson, who will choose Clinton's replacement. The seat officially became vacant after Clinton was confirmed nearly unanimously by the Senate as secretary of state yesterday.
State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has polled higher than Kennedy in public-opinion surveys, was seen as rising on the list of possible replacements.
Kennedy had been the apparent front-runner, with a slew of high-profile backers - including Mayor Bloomberg and, by many accounts, President Obama - and had been pushed strongly by her uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, sources said.
About 90 minutes before she issued her statement, The Associated Press reported that she had renewed "determination" to get the seat, after experiencing "misgivings" about taking on a new job when her uncle, who's battling brain cancer, suffered a seizure shortly after Obama's inauguration Tuesday.
But no member of Kennedy's team issued an official statement confirming that, and she soon made her plans clear.
Paterson has said he is not yet sure who New York's new senator will be, but he plans to announce his decision by this weekend. The press conference at which he'll name his pick is expected Saturday in Albany.
On Tuesday, shortly after Obama was inaugurated, Paterson acknowledged for the first time that he is considering Cuomo for the slot.
The attorney general has not said whether he's interested in the job, but has not tamped down speculation that he's making a play for it.
Kennedy's decision caught even some close to her by surprise, and there were conflicting versions last night of what transpired.
While she cited "personal reasons," which some said was about the Massachusetts senator, others said she made her move after it became clear Paterson likely wasn't going to pick her.
Several sources said the governor, who has sole power to replace Clinton, was unimpressed with how the daughter of John F. Kennedy handled media interviews and private sessions with various officials.
Three sources said Paterson had conveyed to Kennedy on Tuesday that she wasn't likely to get picked. She, too, was at Obama's inauguration, but kept a very low profile.
Sources added that Paterson recently requested information on three possible candidates: upstate Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, Manhattan Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown. Speaker Nancy Pelosi also gave a leg-up to Maloney with the announcement of her appointment to serve as chair of the Joint Economic Committee.
Paterson has offered conflicting comments about where he stands - sometimes suggesting he had made up his mind, sometimes that he hadn't.
Several Democratic sources came away from the inauguration believing he was leaning toward Kennedy.
Her entrance into the bidding for the job was intended to have the effect of clearing the field, forcing other contenders to see her as the inevitable choice for the seat once held by another uncle, Robert F. Kennedy.
Bloomberg privately backed her and publicly praised her abilities. His top deputy, Kevin Sheekey, worked the phones aggressively on Kennedy's behalf.
But she received stiff criticism as she ducked press questions during her first "campaign" trip upstate, and fared poorly in her initial round of media interviews. Several observers said the novice politician lacked a clear rationale for her candidacy, and she met resistance from some establishment Democrats.
Her decision leaves a crowded field of people, mostly elected officials, vying to replace Clinton - including Cuomo, Rep. Steve Israel of Long Island, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, Gillibrand, Maloney and teachers-union President Randi Weingarten.
Kennedy's brief foray into politics lasted less than two months.
fredric.dicker@nypost.com |
