A new poll of New Yorkers shows that state residents are not particularly enthusiastic about the prospect that Caroline Kennedy will be appointed to represent them in the Senate.
The poll, conducted by Quinnipiac University, reveals that 33 percent of voters want Gov. David Paterson to pick Kennedy to fill Hillary Clinton's seat. That's a plurality, but just barely -- 29 percent of respondents favored state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, while 24 percent want someone else and 10 percent are undecided. Voters were evenly split on whether Kennedy is qualified for the job; 40 percent said she is, while 41 percent said she isn't. However, 46 percent said they think she'd make a good senator, compared to 30 percent who disagreed and 24 percent who were undecided. (The margin of error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.)
Separately, two big stories that came out recently seem like they'll put a dent in Kennedy's prospects.
Politico's Glenn Thrush says "her education record -- or what passes for it -- has become just about the only public policy issue on which the 51-year-old political rookie can be judged." The problem, Thrush reports, is that "she hardly left a vapor trail." Colleagues at one job almost never saw or heard from her.
And the New York Times reports that Kennedy rebuffed a request to provide the paper with financial and other disclosures of the type she'd have to make if applying for a job with the Obama administration, or if she were actually running for the Senate. "If Governor Paterson were to choose Caroline, she would, of course, comply with all disclosure requirements,” a Kennedy spokesman told the Times.
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