Thursday, January 22, 2009

New York Times: Kennedy derailed over tax problem with household employee

The New York Times is reporting that Caroline Kennedy bowed out of consideration for the state's vacant Senate seat due to a problem involving taxes and a household employee.

The Times attributes the account to an associate of Gov. David Paterson, who is expected to name a new senator in the next couple of days to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The piece describes growing tension between the Paterson and Kennedy camps. An excerpt:

Several people who have spoken to the governor said he had decided on Ms. Kennedy some time ago. A Democrat operative with ties to Mr. Paterson said the governor told Ms. Kennedy last week that she was the choice, but that he would use the next few days to do “a little misdirection to keep the suspense up.â€