Gov. Paterson yesterday tamped down suggestions that Caroline Kennedy is at the top of the list to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, asking, “How is she a front-runner?”
The comment came as Paterson was arriving back from a trip to Iraq to visit the troops with Reps. Anthony Weiner and Steve Israel at La Guardia Airport. The governor was hit with a crush of questions about the Camelot scion’s push to replace Clinton, who will be nominated to become secretary of state.
He bristled when a reporter described Kennedy – who has never been elected to office and whose qualifications have been criticized – as the “front-runner.”
“How is she a front-runner?” the Democratic governor, who has sole power to choose Clinton’s successor, interrupted tartly.
The remark came as some Paterson advisers have questioned the rollout of Kennedy’s candidacy over the past week, even as Mayor Bloomberg – who several sources say is boosting her behind the scenes – publicly urged the governor to speed up his selection process.
Paterson said he was amused by news accounts during his Iraq trip that quoted various “sources” and “friends.”
“This whole thing sounds more like the prelude to a high school musical than the choosing of a senator.”
He faulted the media for the intense speculation and interest, adding, “You can’t kill your parents and then ask the governor to do something about that fact that you’re an orphan. The speculation and the discussion of this has been, I think, a little superfluous, but it’s everybody’s right.”
In regard to Israel, a Long Island congressman who has let his interest in the seat be known, Paterson said the lawmaker is “highly qualified,” but insisted his goal was not to talk to him about state politics during the trip.
And he added he has no plans to change his current course, which is to wait until Clinton is confirmed for the job.
But Bloomberg showed no signs of letting up.
“I do think the governor, as I said the other day, should make a decision, because this is just distracting and we don’t need to have another sideshow,” he said yesterday.
The mayor also brushed off Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s criticism that Kennedy may be more beholden to her booster, Bloomberg, than to the governor.
“None of these people are beholden to anyone once they get into office, other than hopefully being beholden to the public,” he said.
“I think Caroline Kennedy – I’ve said it a number of times, you keep asking me – she’s a very competent woman who would be a good senator, and the governor is blessed that there are other people who you could say the same thing about.”