Though I don't have much to add to my colleagues on the issue of Kirsten Gillibrand, I will note one interesting thing about Caroline Kennedy's exit. Weeks ago, a savvy source suggested I look into this portion of the big Times interview with Kennedy.
CK:... so I don't have large staff —
DH: Do you have any?
CK: In my house, is that what you're asking me?
DH: Yeah. I think it gets to the whole, is there a Nannygate issue down the road.
CK: (Laughs) I think we're heading down to the — I have somebody who helps me in my house, and I have an assistant who helps me with you, know, kind of all the correspondence, I mean, I'm on the board of the Legal Defense Fund, the Commission on Presidential Debates, I have staff that I work with down at the Department of Education, at the Kennedy Library, so in that way, I'm managing, you know, staff in different places, and so that's really how I do that. They don't work directly for me, but they're people that I work with in all these different capabilities. So in that way it's kind of a decentralized operation.
My source thought there was something to the exchange because of Kennedy's roundabout answer to the question; I didn't want to speculate about the issue without the reporting to back it up. And then...
There was incredulity in Democratic circles Thursday afternoon after the governor's camp engaged in a ferocious public back-and-forth with Ms. Kennedy's side, reaching out to numerous news organizations early Thursday afternoon to disparage her qualifications; one person close to the governor said that her candidacy had been derailed by problems involving taxes and a household employee, but declined to provide details.
That account was at odds with Ms. Kennedy's own description of her reasons for withdrawing. While not denying that issues had arisen, aides to Ms. Kennedy downplayed their significance, saying they had been aired out in discussions between the Paterson and Kennedy camps over the last two weeks and were not considered by either side to be disqualifying.
Not knowing the details, I generally don't think those kinds of issues should be disqualifying of public office, especially considering the myriad reasons why Kennedy shouldn't be tapped for the seat. Maybe now it looks like the situation has gone from the frying pan into the fire, considering Gillibrand's record, but ultimately her record may have been more determined by her right-leaning congressional district than her personal beliefs. We could see a shifting in priorities as she becomes representative of a larger and more liberal constituency. That said, if Kennedy partisans choose to take advantage of this development and argue that their candidate was the only viable progressive chocie, I'd disagree: there are many progressive New Yorkers that Paterson could have picked to fill the seat. The blame, and the responsibility, lies with the governor.
-- Tim Fernholz
