By Emily Cadei CQ Staff
Published: 01-09-09
New York Gov. David Paterson is getting down to business in his search for a replacement for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton pending her confirmation as secretary of State.
Paterson told WOR-AM radio host Joan Hamburg on Thursday that he has interviewed “about 10 candidates” for the post and intends to interview four to five more in the next week. Paterson said one of the candidates he has yet to interview is Caroline Kennedy who has had mixed success in her public campaign to assume the seat once held by her uncle Robert F. Kennedy.
Other candidates mentioned for the seat include Reps. Joseph Crowley Carolyn B. Maloney Jerrold Nadler Steve Israel Kirsten Gillibrand and Brian Higgins ; Attorney General Andrew Cuomo; Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi; Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown; and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr.
Paterson has pledged not to make an appointment until Clinton is confirmed. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry D-Mass. announced Jan. 6 that the committee would hold confirmation hearings for the post on Jan. 13. But there can’t be a vote until President-elect Obama is sworn in Jan. 20 and the nomination is officially transmitted to the Senate.
Paterson is moving forward with the decision-making process after spending most of December swatting away speculation about whether Kennedy was a shoo-in for the seat. Her decision in early December to renounce her lifelong avoidance of the political spotlight and pursue the appointment created a media frenzy in New York and around the country.
It also created a distraction for Paterson who has faced intense public and private lobbying from Kennedy supporters and a host of other Senate seekers at a time when he is grappling with a new legislative session and a record state deficit. Paterson gave his first “State of the State” address to the New York Legislature on Wednesday.
Paterson told Hamburg he has been surprised at the amount of media attention Kennedy daughter of former President John F. Kennedy has received since she went public with her interest in the seat.
“I’ve also been surprised at the way people have gone into the media and almost challenged me” he said.
Paterson said Kennedy’s close relationship with Obama was a factor in her favor but added “She does not have much . . . legislative experience which is a minus.”
Kennedy has been hammered in the press in recent weeks for being evasive and vague in her policy stances. Recent polls show Kennedy losing ground to Cuomo. But she also picked up endorsements from the New York City District Council of Carpenters and prominent upstate businessman Tom Golisano and received public encouragement from the president of NARAL Pro-Choice New York Kelli Conlin.
In the radio interview the governor shrugged off the pressure from all those trying to push him to pick Kennedy or another candidate — including he said “the mayor’s deputy” a thinly veiled reference to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s aide Kevin Sheekey an avid Kennedy supporter.
Quoting baseball umpire Bill Klem Paterson had one reminder for everyone seeking to influence the appointment: “It ain’t nothing ‘til I calls it.”
