February 13, 2012 · www.gothamgazette.com

Gotham Gazette
Loading
Recent Posts
NYC Blogs
Click here for a list of NYC blogs
Newsfeeds
Search This Blog

Kennedy's Personal Reasons
January 22nd, 2009

Less than 12 hours after Caroline Kennedy withdrew from consideration for New York’s Senate seat, speculation runs rampant about what exactly happened last night and why. Clearly there were a round of on-again, off-again rumors, sparked by a New York Post report early in the evening saying she would end her bid for appointment to Hillary Clinton’s seat. That, in turn, sparked another round of denials and skepticism, which Kennedy ended shortly after midnight with her statement she was withdrawing for “personal reasons.”

Despite the collapse of her uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy at a post-inauguration lunch Tuesday, many doubted his precarious health had sparked Caroline’s decision.

“Without question, Caroline is totally concerned about the health of Sen. Kennedy,” Maura Moynihan, a college roommate of Caroline’s and daughter of the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan told the Washington Post. “But Caroline is a very strong and gifted woman, and I’m sure her uncle Ted would want nothing more than to see her in his brother’s seat in the United States Senate.”

So what were the “personal” reasons? As Elizabeth Benjamin and Adaora Udoji quipped on The Takeway this morning they could be that she personally didn’t think Gov. David Paterson would select her the after all.

This has face-saving written all over it,” one congressional Democrat said.

The Post quoted “several sources” who said Paterson “was unimpressed with how the daughter of John F. Kennedy handled media interviews and private sessions with various officials.”

“The governor’s counsel had become increasingly frustrated with Kennedy’s interactions with his office and had become annoyed by her use of lawyers as intermediaries when they asked follow-up questions on a 28-page questionnaire Paterson sent candidates,” a source told Politico.

The Politcker’s Jason Horowitz ticked off a series of theories including one speculating that Paterson himself leaked a false report to the Post that Kennedy was withdrawing in an effort to force her to do that. Weird, but as Horowitz said, “In the absence of any information from official channels, it was hard to discount anything.

Later this morning, the Daily News added another possibility to the mix. It quoted an aide to Caroline Kennedy saying that sometime yesterday she “became aware of a personal situation that was occurring. It had nothing to do with Ted.” The aide, who would not reveal what that problem was, said Kennedy “called the governor to inform him she was not going to be able to take the job.”

So speculate on. But one thing is for sure in Wonkette’s view: “This is all Eliot Spitzer’s fault.”(You figure it out.)

By Gail Robinson on January 22, 2009, 12:00 pm
In category: Albany, Electoral Politics, Gotham City | 1 Comment »

| More

RSS Feed RSS Feed


One Response to “Kennedy's Personal Reasons”

  1. Gotham Gazette - The Wonkster » Blog Archive » If Not Kennedy, Who? Says:
    January 22nd, 2009 at 12:28 pm

    [...] Press NYC Blogs  » Wonkster Recent Posts If Not Kennedy, Who? Kennedy’s Personal Reasons Bloomberg Gives Albany An Earful Reforming the Water Board’s Capital [...]

Leave a Reply


RSS Feed