Caroline's Inexperience a "Minus," Gov Says
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Gov. David Paterson is considering Caroline Kennedy's pluses and minuses.
When it comes to Carolyn Kennedy, New York Gov. David Paterson is considering the pluses and minuses.
A minus would be her lack of legislative experience, Paterson said.
"She does not have much political, I mean, legislative experience, which is a minus." Paterson told the New York Post.
But Paterson, who told the Post that he's spoken with 10 candidates about Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, also praised Kennedy, saying she "obviously does have a tremendous relationship with [President-elect Barack Obama] that's certainly a plus."
Kennedy's relationship with Obama seems to loom large in the governor''s mind, as Paterson reiterated a similar point to the Daily News, saying of Kennedy: "We're looking at legislative experience, we're looking at the ability to make things happen; we're looking at relationships that can be developed."
Meanwhile, former vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin took at a dig at Caroline yesterday, implying she gets treated with "kid gloves" in the press.
"It’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out and I think that as we watch that we will perhaps be able to prove that there is a class issue here also that was such a factor in the scrutiny of my candidacy versus, say, the scrutiny of what her candidacy may be,” Palin told a filmmaker working on a project about media bias.
Earlier in the week, Long Island Congressman Peter King took another step closer to declaring his candidacy for a 2010 Senate run, setting up a potential showdown with Kennedy or whomever the governor choses to be New York's junior senator. What's worse for Kennedy, a poll released earlier this week showed that King might have a shot at beating her.
