GOV. Paterson will hold direct talks with Long Island Rep. Steve Israel about picking him, and not Caroline Kennedy, to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton in the US Senate during their surprise trip to Iraq, The Post has learned.
Israel has made no secret of his desire to succeed Clinton and has told associates he’d likely run a Democratic primary challenge to Kennedy in 2010, when the seat would be up for a special election.
“The governor will be talking to Steve about his interest in the Senate, and you could say this gives Steve Israel a leg up on Caroline,” said a source close to Paterson.
Paterson has also told friends that he considers Israel “certainly qualified” to be named to the Senate, another source said.
Also on the trip is Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn), who is eyeing a challenge to Mayor Bloomberg next year but who may also talk to Paterson about the Senate job.
“At the very least, Weiner will be telling the governor what he thinks about Caroline and the other possible [Senate] candidates,” according to a Democratic insider.
Paterson, whose pre-Christmas trip to Iraq was made public yesterday, has yet to sit down for an in-depth discussion with Kennedy, who has mounted a high-profile lobbying campaign for the job with political operatives close to Mayor Bloomberg.
A Democratic congressman, meanwhile, told The Post that he received a call from a Kennedy representative last week seeking his endorsement, a move he called “pathetic.”
“It’s pathetic that Caroline doesn’t even make the call herself,” said the congressman, who refused the requested endorsement.
Other New York Democrats privately expressed amazement that Kennedy has yet to give interviews to journalists.
“How can the press, how can the public, even stand for that when Sarah Palin was roasted for doing the same thing?” declared a prominent elected Democrat.
Also, Rep. José Serrano, of The Bronx, a far-left Democrat and native of Puerto Rico, blasted Democrats, including some of Paterson’s own advisers, for saying Kennedy should be picked because she can raise campaign cash.
“The whole notion of everyone suggesting she can raise more money than anyone else and that’s her strength wipes everyone else off the table because others can’t raise that kind of money,” Serrano said.
“If the governor makes a decision solely based on who can raise the most money, then some communities – the poor and minority communities – will never be able to have a member of their community represented,” continued Serrano.