Caroline Kennedy: Hey, Wha' Happened?

Boy do I feel better about Minnesota's orderly process.

Just another example of how bizarre the relationship between pols and press has gotten. Unfounded speculation on whether a candidate for appointment jumped or was pushed, AOK. Well sourced evidence that top administration officials were complicit in war crimes, well lats just mull that one over until they're safely out of office....
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(Note that I'm aware I'm being hyperbolic. After all, if the war-crime story were completely quashed, I wouldn't be in a position to comment on it....)

I stand by my original statement: Caroline Favre.

OT:How do we hold thee accountable?
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A group of high-ranking dairy company executives and middlemen were sentenced by a Chinese court on Thursday to long jail terms, life in prison and, for three individuals, the death penalty for endangering public safety last year by selling and producing tainted milk products, according to the state-run news media.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/world/asia/23milk.html?hp
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What does this country do to people who endangered the lives of our troops? I think bonuses were involved.
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/28/soldier.electrocutions/index.html
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/military_kbr_lawsuit_121508w/

Caroline Kennedy does this EVERY time she applies for a job. Which might explain her thin resume...

Like Paterson's horrible sense of timing apparently Kennedy is also afflicted with a similar lack of recognition virus. Let's just call it the Politico Oblivious Virus or POV for short. A virus which exhibits such traits as not understanding timing, when to get in- when to get out, not being able to make a prompt decision, not understanding that your constituents are tiring of you, etc. etc. etc.

Like Paterson, Kennedy has waited too long to make her exit. When it all did not happen in a few weeks she should have exited, cited Paterson's POV symptoms and moved on.

But hey we still have Gov. Palin to kick around, now she's trying to stay relevant by attacking the press for supposedly attacking her children. She too suffers from POV. When you parade around your family and wear them like a campaign button... guess what they get srutinized. She apparently is oblivious to the need for new press stories or something.

Bizarre. Ms Kennedy certainly hasn't shown us the so-called Kennedy smarts. That Ted is ailing is an odd reason for getting out. As for the journos: this hasn't been their finest hour, has it?

I guess we'd call that a "Profile in Confusion." And I thought Kennedy had such potential. Evidently, the Senate is no place for ordinary Kennedys.

The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com

So, I wonder, when did she call Paterson and what was the conversation? Did she say "I'm leaning no because of Teddy?" Or, did he say, "I'm leaning no because you are teh suck?" And, did they decide to sleep on it but someone from the Governor's office or Kennedy clan leaked? The one thing I can't believe, and maybe it's just because I'm not knowledgeable, is the meme that the Governor could leak that she dropped out to "put her in a box." Can you really just say something that absolutely didn't happen? That seems pretty over the top to me. I'm guessing the "Leaning One Way + Sleep On It + Leaking Aide (ick)" call, but of course I'm just having fun guessing.

PMC...
My guess is that Patterson decided who to replace Hillary with, and notified someone in the Kennedy camp that she wasn't it to give her a chance to bow out gracefully. That Kennedy person leaked to the media (perhaps 2nd or third hand) before the information got to Kennedy and her entourage. So everyone around Kennedy was denying because they didn't know, while Patterson's office denied it because this was supposed to be graceful.

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newfloridian, I don't think there is anything wrong with Patterson's timing -- this whole thing is Kennedy's fault. Had she not so publicly sought the seat, the decision would not have gotten anywhere near the kind of attention it has, so Patterson needs the whole thing to be a fait accompli, rather than giving the NY media weeks to create controversies surrounding the person he picks.

The worst and I mean absolute worst part of this story is that the National Enquirer New York Post broke it. Now the talking heads are gonna treat them like a credible source going forward.

Karen, you just made my day with that Mike LaFontaine quote.
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Maybe Paterson paid her to withdrawl with a weal wed wagon.

RFK Jr. on Morning Joe said he hadn't talked with Caroline since she withdrew, but that she was very affected by Ted's collapse Tuesday.
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That is believable if unusual. Caroline may have been picturing herself in the senate with Teddy, and may have realized that might be a very short-term thing, and that she would still be a senator for 2 years even if Ted wasn't there.
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She wouldn't be the first person who thought a job sounded terrific because of the people she'd be working with and who tried to talk her into it, who thought better of it when the work cadre changed.

This whole thing doesn't make the principles look bad, it makes political reporting look bad.
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At this point, somebody on the journo side needs to rethink the effect that un-named source rumor mill tabloidism has on their credibility...
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Put people's names in print, and ultimately they'll tend to tell you the truth.
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Allow people the luxury of repeating falsehoods, conjecture and hearsay anonymously, and you'll get burned.
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At least this was about stupid Kennedy gossip, and not, say, a case for war involving weapons of mass destruction...

KT -- Thanks to you and the Swampland commenters for following this story. This speaks volumes about how it appears the media gets out ahead fo the story before the story happens. I'm reminded of the Reagan shooting when ABCs Frank Reynolds who was told by producers that Reagan Press Secreatry Brady had died at Walter Reed when he had, in fact, not. Reynolds pounding the desk "let's nail this down" is one of my most memorable moments in broadcast journalism.
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Today's media about getting it out first regardless of whether it's accurate. KT, I thought you managed this very well here on the blog last night.
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I don't think we'll ever know the true chronology, but it's up to media management to set higher standards about naming sources if they are going with a story, rather than solely relying on unnamed sources. I know KT will probably comeback with unnamed sources are important, and they are, but some stories require you to use named the sources. This story is a good illustration of that.
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This about judgment and leadership by editors and management. It's not about poor reporting.

She is making Hillary Clinton's campaign look like it was run by David Plouffe.
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I think you have a certain responsibility when you've run what is essentially a campaign, with aides and endorsements, to not withdraw in response to a tragic but completely predictable event. And of course no one would have criticized her for taking a few days off to be with her uncle, like Obama did with his grandmother in the GE. That said, I doubt she withdrew. It seems more like she was pushed, or that she's searching for a way to save face.

Still, it would have been nice to have one senator who shied from the spotlight.

I don't think Paterson is doing himself any favors by dragging this out. Wasn't he supposed to make his announcement on who was getting the seat on Tuesday? He needs to just pick someone already.

The entire episode has been FUBAR right from the start. Everyone involved has played their part. Curb You Enthusiasm had a better script. They may have been relying on subtle signals to send messages, but it appears that subtle didn't work. They remind me of Garret Morris on SNL when he was playing the part of the "signer" for the deaf. He'd cup his hands around his mouth and shout. The effect has been the same.

KT: I think you misconstrue my intent. To clarify, it would be nice to have a senator whose primary objective was something other than attention and self-aggrandizement. So many of them see the spotlight as the objective rather than a necessary concomitant of the position.

Hot damn we have progress!
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/postpoll011709.html
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35a. (HALF SAMPLE) Do you think the Obama administration should or should not investigate whether any laws were broken in the way terrorism suspects were treated under the Bush administration?
Should Should not No opinion
1/16/09 50 47 2
35b. (HALF SAMPLE) Would you support or oppose Bush issuing a pardon to prevent criminal charges against anyone in the federal government who carried out his administration's policy on the treatment of terrorism suspects?
Support Oppose No opinion
1/16/09 42 52 6

[...] Caroline Kennedy: Hey, Wha’ Happened? [...]

[...] a more detailed background on the implosion, read Karen Tumulty’s minute by minute breakdown of the campaign’s own breakdown last night. But basically The New York Post declares Kennedy [...]