Caroline with hubby Ed Schlossberg
MEDIA REPORTS CITE TAXES, NANNY AND POSSIBLE MARRIAGE “ISSUES”
The New York Post published a story late this afternoon (with the groan-worthy headline “Kennedy Never Had A Shot”) which purports to reveal the “inside scoop” on why Caroline Kennedy really dropped her bid for Hillary Clinton’s now-vacant senate seat.
In a stunning revelation, a source close to Gov. David Paterson insisted this afternoon that the governor “had no intention” of picking Caroline Kennedy for New York’s vacant senate seat – because she was “mired” in an issue over taxes, her nanny and possibly her marriage.
Kennedy was “mired in some potentially embarrassing personal issues,” the source said, citing tax liabilities and worker compensation liabilities connected to the employment of a nanny.
The source also said the state of her marriage may have presented a problem as well.
“She has a tax problem that came up in the vetting and a potential nanny issue,” the soruce said. “And reporters are starting to look at her marriage more closely,” the soruce continued, refusing to provide any specifics.
Gossip columns have reported for more than a year that Kennedy’s marriage to Ed Schlossberg is essentially over, and the gossip site Gawker.com has reported rumors that she’s been linked to New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger.
Kennedy denied any issue over her marriage in an interview with The Post last month. Aides to Kennedy and a Times spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached.
But hours earlier, a source close to Kennedy told The Post she’d bowed out because she’d become aware of a personal issue early Wednesday afternoon, but that it had nothing to do with her uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and his ailing health, contrary to some reports citing “a family source.”
Kennedy withdrew from consideration to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, just two months after rocking the New York political landscape by throwing her hat in the ring.
She confirmed the news publicly in a statement released shortly after midnight today – hours after The Post exclusively revealed her decision last night.
Meanwhile, the New York Times is further feeding the rumor mill with similar reports of Kennedy’s “personal reasons” for dropping out of the race: taxes and nannies. Although perhaps not surprisingly, the Times article carried no mention of Kennedy’s supposed marital difficulties or any romantic ties to the Times‘ publisher.
Caroline has wisely been keeping mum on this whole thing, preferring to decline interview requests and stand by her original one-sentence statement issued late last night. By now, she has probably unplugged her home phone, changed her cell number, deleted all of her email accounts, and thrown her laptop out the window in an effort to get the pesky New York media to just go away and leave her the hell alone, already.
On a possibly unrelated note, we noticed that Hillary Clinton was looking awfully chipper today, grinning like the cat who ate the canary during her first public appearances as President Obama’s newly-confirmed secretary of state.
And New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo (former Kennedy in-law and another top contender for Hillary’s senate seat) is keeping his satisfied grins to himself…at least for now.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for President 
Here are the new reasons Caroline gave Gov. Paterson:
— It’s not you, it’s me.
— I’m just not feeling this anymore.
— I’m not ready for this much of a commitment.
— You’d just be settling for me — you deserve better.
— I hope we can still be friends.
She heard that if she reconsidered, Neil Diamond would write another song about her.
According to Time Magazine, it sounds like Teddy is super pissed that Caroline and others in the Kennedy clan (including RFK Jr.) used his illness as the reason CK bowed out.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1873328,00.html
Yeah, that explanation didn’t wash with me for one minute, either.
Anyone who knows Teddy at all knows that he HATES even admitting to being the slighest bit weakened. Classic example of that was the way he yelled at his fellow senators fawning and worrying over him after he collapsed at the inaugural lunch the other day.
“I’m fine, dammit!” He barked at them. Even while flat on his back in the ambulance.
Ted’s the man who wanted Caroline to be a senator in the first place. He’ll be damned if she’ll say he’s the reason she’s NOT going to be one!
Go Teddy! You don’t take s–t from anybody, not even your own family. That’s why we love ya!
Great Blog post. I am going to bookmark and read more often. I love the Blog template if you need any assistance customizing it let me know!
I honestly cannot believe that the Kennedy-friendly Times would – without question – attribute Caroline’s dropping out to her reported concern over Ted’s health. He had been hospitalized with a serious medical condition before she announced her intentions. Apart from his collapse at the inaugural luncheon on Tuesday, what was so different then from yesterday? Seems the Times just went ahead and swallowed whatever the Kennedy camp gave them.
I was very disappointed to hear RFK Jr. out there on Morning Joe today trying to peddle that lame excuse about Teddy’s health being the reason for Caroline’s hasty departure.
And also heard him say that he had turned down the senate seat when it was offered because his “children like to eat and need to go to school.” (translation: “the senate gig doesn’t pay enough for my kids to eat at the finest NY restaurants and attend Brown and Harvard)
I’m sorry, but that’s just insulting to millions of Americans who can’t afford to feed their families because they’re out of work and losing their homes. With the economy as it is, families are having to live on their savings or dip into their children’s college funds just to survive.
For many families, college is no longer an attainable part of the American dream. Not even community college.
I wonder what the single mother of 6, out of work, sitting home in Brooklyn, thought of RFK Jr.’s insensitive comments. She was probably thinking of a senator’s salary as more money than she could ever dream of making over a lifetime of backbreaking work scrubbing the Kennedy’s floors!
Newsflash for RFK JR.: if you have a desire to SERVE the people, you must make some sacrifices, too, sir. Do what your father and uncle JFK did, and donate your government salary to charity.
The current salary for U.S. Senator is $169,000 a year. How many people reading this could get by on that?
Proof that elitists like the Kennedys are out of touch with the people. It’s sad, because previous generations of this family had sensitive hearts and minds, despite their riches, and actually had a REAL DESIRE TO SERVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE in times of great crisis.
Where’s that kind of leadership now? I don’t know, but don’t look to the Kennedys this time. It’s clear to me this generation just doesn’t get it.
Perhaps they should consider the meaning of JFK’s words when he said ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU (“how much does this gig pay, again?”)…ASK WHAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY DO FOR YOUR DAMN COUNTRY!
And that’s the REAL reason Princess Caroline didn’t get the NY senate seat!
Jim, I get your point. We’ve had several similar comments on our other blogs recently, and I did bring this criticism to Bobby’s attention when we spoke on the phone earlier today.
Contrary to what you might believe, he is very sensitive to the economic burdens our citizens are struggling with…perhaps he just didn’t articulate that as clearly as he could have.
Another misperception about this generation of Kennedys is that they are awash in wealth. This is actually not true. While they aren’t living paycheck to paycheck, they *do* have to get out there and earn their own living, and all of them work incredibly long days, just like the rest of us.
From what I’ve personally observed of RFK Jr., he works harder and longer hours than most people I know. And just like the rest of us, he’s got a mortgage, a regular day job, and mouths to feed.
RFK Jr. is accustomed to harsh criticism, and he’s got skin thick enough to take it. But he’s well aware of the world economic crisis and the growing number of Americans who are struggling to, as George W. Bush so eloquently said, “put food on their families.”:)
You quoted JFK’s call to public service in your post, and it’s a point well taken. I would respectfully counter that with a few lines from Robert Frost that Jack and Bobby quoted often — and memorably — to express their deep and tireless commitment to public service:
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
but I have promises to keep
and miles to go before I sleep…
and miles to go before I sleep.”
Perhaps it would be well for *all of us* to ask ourselves what we have done for our country.
What have we done for it lately?
What can we do…each and every one of us…to build a better future?
And as Bob Dylan said:
“Don’t follow leaders, watch the parking meters.”
Jim,
I think you are making assumptions that are not based on fact or the realtiy of the situation. I did listen to the interview before responding to your comment. I don’t feel that you are being fair in your response.
Jim said:”Proof that elitists like the Kennedys are out of touch with the people. It’s sad, because previous generations of this family had sensitive hearts and minds, despite their riches, and actually had a REAL DESIRE TO SERVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE in times of great crisis.”
I don’t know Bobby in person, but I did know Joe in my past life. lol. I feel like I want to defend Joe so that I why I am posting. Joe works very hard to help people. He was in the U.S. Congress and served the people in the 8th district of Massachusetts. Even though he is not in active government right now, he is still helping people with heating and other items such as health care through the non profit company that he founded. Joe works very hard. Is Joe perfect, NO, but either is anyone else I have met in this world and inspite of his faults, I still am his friend who will defend him when I think people are treating him unfairly.
You are making assumptions about Joe that is not true. Joe does care about people. He does care about the poor who are having to struggle to heat their homes this winter. You are judging him and his brother very harshly and you do not have the facts Jim. I hope you are not judged the way you are judging Joe and his brother.
Did you ever think Jim that now might not be the right time for Bobby to run for Public Office? I would love to see Joe come out of retirement and fight some battles, but that is his choice and he has to be the one to decide if that is something that he wants to do. As Joe has to make up his own mind so does Bobby and even Caroline if they want to or if it is the right time to run.
I guess I look at it from a different point of view than you do Jim, because I really care about Joe as a friend, and even though we haven’t seen each other for years, he still holds a place in my heart, and I want what is best for him. If you truly want what is best for someone you must accept that sometimes the answer is no, sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes the answer is not yet.
Just because I think that Joe is needed in a fight doesn’t mean that he wants to join the fight or is even able to join the fight. Just because you think Bobby or Caroline should be the U.S Senator from New York doesn’t mean the time is right or that it is the best fit for them. No matter what path they choose to walk down, I believe that public service will very much be a part of whatever they do.
Jim, I may not be explaining this very well, but I think that your assumptions are wrong.
Chrisy
i hope caroline will proceed with what she needs to study in order to run for n.y. senate. if i had the privilege to speak to her i would try to get her fired up to carry on the legacy of her father jfk and uncles rfk and emk. jfk and rfkwere leaders who campaigned in the midst of great love and danger. hopefully she could be ready by fall,2009 for the 2010 campaign.
Chrisy mentioned Joe Kennedy III, and although I agree with much of what Jim said before her, I do recognize that JPK III is probably the ONLY member of this generation who “gets it” (while his brother Bobby Jr. spends waaaay too much time looking cool at posh, “green” celebrity fundraisers and fashion shows…yes, fashion shows.) What JPK III has done to bring affordable heating oil to the poor of this country is admirable and in the best Kennedy tradition of public service and self-sacrifice. That’s why I’d be pleased if he were the one to replace Teddy in the Senate someday, and I hope he does.
I’m sure Caroline (like her brother) is a very nice person. Who didn’t love those children? But please do not embarrass her by actually putting her on display.
Her uncle Ted has destroyed any positive family image. It’s not his fault. He was expected to shoulder the whole image, by default, and failed miserably. He wasn’t ‘prepared’ for that role his whole life, like his brothers were!
Everybody knows that John John was the one who was supposed to carry on after his Dad. Sadly he’s gone, and I feel they are trying to thrust that poor girl into a position she is not prepared for either.
She should not be put in the open and pressured to bring honor back to the name Kennedy. A light shown on someone so sheltered could never be a good thing for that person. Leave her alone. She’s more like her mother, not her father.
Caroline was not qualified to be Senator — she lacked the ability to articulate her thoughts, which are key to joining the “Talking Society” known as the US Senate. She may have a BA from Harvard and JD from Columbia, but it seems obvious that was due to her legacy status, not because she worked very hard or was extremely bright. She had no passion for New York politics — did not even vote in most elections! She couldn’t even exit the situation gracefully, going back and forth on whether to quit like a neurotic person (although indecision seems to be a longstanding Kennedy trait…I know, I know, they’re Irish).
Profiles in Confusion, indeed. If I were writing your headlines, I would have called this story Profiles in Cowardice instead.
Caroline, we do recognize that you’re mentally unstable, indecisive, and just a wee bit neurotic, and we know you’ve got your reasons. We have tons of sympathy for all the losses you’ve endured.
However, if you have a moment of lucidity, fire the sycophant advisors who prompted you to undertake this idiotic endeavor. Their sole motivation was wanting to be a senatorial aide instead of being a social secretary coordinating ballet benefit brunches.
How much were you paying those overpriced public relations geniuses over at KnickerbockerSKD to ruin your chances at a political career? If that’s what you wanted, fine….it was money well spent and you’ll never have to run for anything ever again.
Caroline Kennedy would not have made a good senator because of her personality. In an environment where extrovertedness, the ability to wheel and deal with many different individuals who each had their own agendas, and to reach out and pull people to your side, Caroline would have been a fish out of water. She would not have served her state well, if she had become the senator from NY, it would have been a classic case of the Peter Principle, being promoted to a position where she had no experience or know how to handle the job. It’ s not a ding on her, it’ s just that she was not suited to be a senator.
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Annie wrote: “Chrisy mentioned Joe Kennedy III, and although I agree with much of what Jim said before her, I do recognize that JPK III is probably the ONLY member of this generation who “gets it” (while his brother Bobby Jr. spends waaaay too much time looking cool at posh, “green” celebrity fundraisers and fashion shows…yes, fashion shows.) What JPK III has done to bring affordable heating oil to the poor of this country is admirable and in the best Kennedy tradition of public service and self-sacrifice. That’s why I’d be pleased if he were the one to replace Teddy in the Senate someday, and I hope he does. ”
Annie, while I am proud of Joe for what he has accomplished; I also know he has his faults like all of us have. I have always believed in him as a friend and always will, though right now I think he could be doing more. That is just my personal feelings.
I don’t know Bobby in person, but I think you are not being fair. I am proud of Bobby for the work he has done over the years. He is more doing a lot of good with his radio show. I know I for one am learning so much and am really grateful that he cares enough to educate people to the truth. He is out there getting the message out. He is out there fighting for the enviornment and raising money to fund the battles that must be fought.
While Joe has decided to live a more private life and even though he is doing something important and I am proud of him, I just wish he would be doing more to fight the evil in the world. I see Joe has given up the fight and don’t really wanting to join the battle that must be fought and Bobby maybe being the one who is willing to join the hard fight that must be fought.
Joe took an oath when he became the U.S. Congressman from the 8th district from MA. Does he still believe that oath? If he does will he be willing to come out of retirement and join the fight against the bad guys in this country like David Duke. Who just today I posted on my journal blog David Duke’s speech called President David Duke Gives His Inaugural Address!. He gave it the title and I did comment in blue my thoughts to David Duke’s Inaugural address. Anyway, if people are interested it is http://chrisy58.wordpress.com/
Someone has to be willing to fight the evil.
I just feel Joe could be doing so much more. I am not putting Joe down or what he has accomplished, but I just wish he believed in himself enough to believe that if he joined the fight that his efforts could lead to good overcoming and defeating evil in this country.
I think both of them if they were to jump in the arena could really make a difference.
I had some typos because I pushed the submit button before I had proof read.
I know some people feel that Bobby hasn’t been doing anything important. Yet, his radio show is very important and is educating people. I know I for one am very grateful that I found Ring of Fire and I can hear another point of view. Education is very important so he is too serving the public. He is teaching me the truth and helping me have the knowledge that I need, so yes, I am very grateful that he cares enough to do a radio show. His battles are very important.
Don’t get me wrong, I am also proud of Joe. I have been proud of him and have believed in him since the first day I met him and Sheila. I always believed in him as a Congressman that he could do great things and make such a difference for good in this country as a Congrssman or whatever job in Politics he wanted. I thought he would be a good one to have in the battle fighting along side of so I was hoping he would want to join in the fight against hate. He does good and helps the poor so what he does is very important too. I was disappointed when he retired as I thought he was needed in the fight, but I am sure he had his reasons.
I just felt Annie that you were trying to compare Joe with Bobby and I didn’t think that was fair.
I fight against White Nationalism in this country. Actually all Racism, but manily focus on the White Nationalism, because that is the area that I know more about and deal with. I get accused of being paranoid by those on the Right Wing, but I tell them I would rather be wrong than to just right off David Duke as some crazy dude; only to find out that he has taught and encouraged young White Nationalists to run for public office and to actually have won the elections they ran in as Republicans. There was a least a couple of young men who are White Nationalists who ran as Republicans and won. The Republican party did try and stop them from taking those seats and I believed tried to kick them out of the party, so even the Republican party knows they have White Nationalists running for office as Republicans and not being honest with the voters.
Some might ask why this fight is so important to me? When I was an active Daughter of the American Revolution at the beginning of our meetings we read and vowed to protect this country from all enemies foreign and domestic. I think White Nationalism and David Duke because he is one of their leaders is a threat to this country. I don’t trust him and I think he has something up his sleeve.
I guess my point is that we all have our battles and the things we fight for. Just because someone else doesn’t fight the battle we want them to fight doesn’t mean they are not fighting a battle that is just as important. I guess I just didn’t like Bobby being compared to Joe and Joe being compared to Bobby. They are each their own man. No matter what Joe does, as his friend I will support his decision.
Well I need to go and get ready for mass now.