Sources: Paterson Not So Keen on Caroline

Governor thinks NY needs a more assertive voice in the Senate

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 8, 2008 10:24 AM CST

Copied

Sources: Paterson Not So Keen on Caroline — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., right, talks with New York Gov. David Paterson, left, and New York City Council President Christine Quinn, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

David Paterson likes and respects Caroline Kennedy, but the New York governor isn't so sure she's cut out to be Hillary Clinton's replacement. Giving Kennedy 20-1 odds, an anonymous insider tells Fredric U. Dicker of the New York Post that Paterson wants his state to have a louder voice in Washington than the "quiet and non-assertive" Kennedy could provide.

"It looks to me like Bobby Kennedy may be trying to push Caroline more than Caroline is pushing herself," the source said of the Kennedy cousin, who is himself at the center of speculation about the top EPA job. The rumored short list for the Senate seat includes AG Andrew Cuomo and US Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Kirsten Gillibrand. An outside possibility is Time Warner chairman Richard Parsons. (More David Paterson stories.)

Report an error