The Caroline circus (updated)

OK, she's out, issuing a statement in the early hours of this Thursday morning. So I'll head to the Capitol where the Legislature is in session, but I understand that Gov. Paterson, apparently exhausted from the inaugural celebrations and the Caroline circus, will be staying in New York City with no public schedule.

 It's hard to believe this thing could have gotten more ridiculous, but it never pays to underestimate the potential for absurdity in New York politics. Multiple reports this [Wednesday] evening say Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn her bid to be a U.S. senator, either because of her Uncle Teddy's illness or because she'd gotten word that Gov. Paterson wasn't going to pick her after all, but there are also some contradictory reports, and the Times, which broke the story, implies Paterson was going to pick her, which is the opposite of The New York Post and CNN version of the withdrawal, if indeed there has been a withdrawal which is not certain, according to the Daily News. Meanwhile, there is nothing on the record from her or her people or from the governor's side. I was a little skeptical when Jim Tedisco and the goo-goos demanded Paterson make public the applications and other papers involved in this process, but then Bob Freeman weighed in on their side, so I figured maybe they weren't just grandstanding and had a legal case. And it sure would be better to have information out in the open than for the meat of the story now to be a matter of rumor and gossip.

Comments

[Brian]

I have no doubt that Tedisco was grandstanding, because that's pretty much all he does. He's the only pol in NYS that rivals Schumer for being camera hungry. That said, he happens to be right on this issue. There should be a special election. Or at the very least, the governor should submit a nominee to the legislature. It shouldn't be one person's choice.

[Molly]

My understanding is that the appointee will only be until 2010, when there will be a special election, and then the normal seat election again in 2012. I suppose if Gillibrand (and it does seem to be Gillibrand now) messes up too much, then the voters will have plenty of say in the next four years.