Via the NYT: Kennedy Is Said to Withdraw Bid for Senate Seat - NYTimes.com
Ms. Kennedy on Wednesday called Gov. David A. Paterson, who will choose a successor to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, to inform him that she was no longer interested in the post.The person told of her decision said that Ms. Kennedy’s concerns about the health of her uncle, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who suffers from brain cancer and was hospitalized after suffering a seizure Tuesday, prompted her to withdraw.
I must confess, my first reaction is on the cynical side, i.e., that this is a convenient opportunity to extricate herself from a situation that had turned somewhat problematic. It seems unlikely that she will be spending so much time with her ailing uncle that she would be unable to serve. But, then again, perhaps she will. On the one hand, it seems unfair to make such judgments, on the other it is what happens when one enters politics–even if it is just a pinky toe to try out the water.
Not surprisingly, I am not the only cynic here. Betsy Newmark has her own theory:
What do you bet that the Governor got word to Caroline Kennedy that she wasn’t going to be his choice and she decided to drop out first to put up the pretense that it was her choice and not Paterson’s.
And then there’s the Politico’s Glenn Thrush:
On its surface this explanation seems suspect: Wouldn’t her uncle’s frail condition make her more eager to carry on the family legacy?
However, Thrush also notes a report that Kennedy has not withdrawn. MSNBC has this blurb at their site:
Countdown’s Keith Olbermann reports that a Kennedy family source told NBC’s David Gregory that Caroline Kennedy has not withdrawn her name for consideration for the New York Senate seat.Sphere: Related Content
January 22nd, 2024 at 1:15 pm
I think she is a good woman and not ruthless enough to stand the pilloring as demonstrated by the recent treatment of Sarah Palin by the Democrats and Liberal media. She does not fit in the filth of politics or does she need it.She does not feed on headlines as was necessary for all the Kennedys before her.I would be afraid to treat my wife that way and go home. She stands up for her rights unlike the women voters in the last election.Blacks are not the only ones that have suffered from discrimination.I have to admit it has taken me almost 50 years to arrive at this conclusion and understand that she is not of the weaker sex. My belief grows stronger every day as I get older and wiser.