Pat Dollard

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‘Please, Uncle Teddy … I really, really want this Senate seat. Get it for me … or I’lll hold my breath until I’m blue in the face … alright, until I’m red in the face … JUST GET IT FOR ME, YOU OLD FART! I WANT IT NOWWWW!’

NYPost:

Powerful senator and family patriarch Ted Kennedy has been working back channels to promote niece Caroline as the replacement for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Senate, family sources told The Post.

The elder Kennedy (D-Mass.), who’s battling brain cancer, has sent word to Gov. Paterson’s office that Caroline Kennedy, 51, has contacts and family connections that would mean legislation affecting New York would receive prompt attention, family sources said.

Ted Kennedy – who forged strong ties with Barack Obama after backing him in the primaries – is the president-elect’s closest ally in the Senate. He is also leading the charge on health-care legislation, a pet project of Obama’s.

A family member told The Post that a second Kennedy in the Senate is a “strong possibility.”

Caroline may have been the most famous young girl in America in the early 1960s when dad John F. Kennedy was president, but she has never held public office and has spent most of her adult life out of the limelight.

She has yet to publicly express interest in the Senate seat, but a New York Democratic source said she has “made numerous overtures to get into politics.”

“She’s looking for a mission in life,” the source said, now that her three children are mostly grown. “Preferably in politics.”

Caroline had been more interested in being ambassador to the United Nations, the source said. But after that position went to Susan Rice last Monday, she called Paterson and the two discussed Clinton’s Senate seat, the governor confirmed Friday.

The governor, who has the job of appointing a replacement for Clinton, has said he won’t make any decision for weeks, pending Clinton’s confirmation as secretary of state.

A Paterson-administration source said that because of Caroline’s limited political experience, she is “barely in the game.”

Yet, the introverted lawyer made a big splash when she stepped onstage with Uncle Teddy and endorsed Obama early this year.

“Her name recognition and the power of the Kennedy legacy can’t be overlooked,” said one Democrat.

If picked, Caroline would be the fourth member of her family to have served in the Senate – after Ted, JFK and uncle Robert F. Kennedy, who also represented New York in the 1960s.

Caroline Kennedy to Seek Clinton’s Senate Seat

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE – (NYTimes)

Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of an American political dynasty, has decided to pursue the United States Senate seat being vacated by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, a person told of her decision said on Monday.

The decision came after a series of deeply personal and political conversations, in which Ms. Kennedy, whom friends describe as unflashy but determined, wrestled with whether to give up what has been a lifetime of avoiding the spotlight.

Ms. Kennedy will ask Gov. David A. Paterson of New York to consider her for the appointment, according to the person told of her decision. The governor was traveling to Utica today and could not immediately be reached for comment.

If appointed, Ms. Kennedy would fill the seat once held by her uncle, Robert F. Kennedy.

Ms. Kennedy has been making calls this morning to alert political figures to her interest.

Ms. Kennedy’s decision is likely to have a major impact on the governor’s considerations as he mulls who should succeed Mrs. Clinton. Already, some other Democrats have pointedly questioned her credentials for the job. United States Representative Gary Ackerman, a Queens Democrat, said last week that he did not know what Ms. Kennedy’s qualifications were, “except that she has name recognition — but so does J. Lo.”

Others, including Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg have praised her abilities.

Ms. Kennedy first telephoned the governor on Dec. 3 to inquire about the job, but Mr. Paterson described that conversation as “informational” and said it was clear that Ms. Kennedy had not decided whether she wanted to pursue the position.

But since then, she has begun reaching out to key political figures in New York, including Sheldon Silver, the speaker of the State Assembly, and Thomas P. DiNapoli, the state comptroller. She has also hired Knickerbocker SKD, a prominent political consulting firm headed by Josh Isay, a former chief of staff to Senator Charles E. Schumer, to advise her.

Ms. Kennedy’s family members, especially her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have urged her to seek the post.

Mrs. Clinton has said that she would not vacate the Senate seat until she was confirmed as President-elect Barack Obama’s secretary of state, which is expected to occur in January or February, and the governor has said that he would wait until then to make the appointment. But he has also said that he might make his selection known before then, to allow whomever is chosen to prepare for the new role.

Ms. Kennedy, 51, a resident of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, took an unusually public role in Mr. Obama’s campaign, and the two became friends. Mr. Obama appointed Ms. Kennedy to the panel that vetted potential vice-presidential candidates for him.

Before that, Ms. Kennedy had devoted much of her time to charitable works and institutions linked to her family, like the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, of which she is president.

Others likely to be considered for the Senate seat are members of Congress including Kirsten Gillibrand, a rising star in the Democratic party who represents an upstate district; Thomas R. Suozzi, the Nassau County chief executive and a former candidate for governor; and the New York State attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo.