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The most powerful woman in the world. So Hillary Clinton will become with the dawn of a new White House. Madam Secretary of State. A strong hand in a velvet glove, extended to the globe on behalf of the most anticipated presidency in generations. Short of Barack Obama, no American today­ has a greater opportunity to shape international history than does New York’s departing ­junior U.S. senator. And, short of Barack Obama, no American played a greater role last year in influencing the choice of the 44th President of the United States. Clinton galvanized 18 million voters and made her...

Democrats Pushing Paterson To Name Temp Replacement For Hillary; Scenario Sets Up Wild Election In 2010 Sen. Bill Clinton? Don't completely rule it out. The former president is among several boldface names being touted as possible "caretakers" for New York's Senate seat -- people who would serve until the 2010 elections but wouldn't be interested in running to keep the job. As the process of picking Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's replacement gets messier, the option may become increasingly attractive to Gov. David Paterson, who has sole authority to name a successor. A big name like Bill Clinton or Democratic former...

Kennedy camp reigns in Bloomberg adviser Kevin Sheekey’s Senate seat lobbying efforts BY KENNETH LOVETT, ELIZABETH BENJAMIN and ADAM LISBERG DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Wednesday, December 31st 2008, 12:47 AM Caroline Kennedy's advisers have told Mayor Bloomberg's political pit bull to tone down his lobbying efforts for her for fear it will kill her chances to be named to the Senate. "There had been huge missteps in the way [City Hall] constructed this," said a source involved in the Kennedy effort to muzzle Bloomberg operative Kevin Sheekey. "It's just a dialing down of anything that would be harmful to her,"...

KIDS & HUBBY ARE ALL ABOARD RUN FOR SENATE - AND OBAMA'S 'ENCOURAGING' They're virtually unknown to New Yorkers, but the husband and children of Caroline Kennedy - the woman with one of the most famous names in American politics - are also dreaming of bringing back Camelot. Q&A With Caroline Kennedy In a sit-down with The Post, President John F. Kennedy's daughter, who has spent years guarding her family's privacy, said her three children - Rose, 20, Tatiana, 18, and John, 15 - and husband Edwin Schlossberg completely back her effort to be appointed to the Senate seat of...

Some top Democrats were certain Gov. Paterson, a close-to-the vest electorate of one, would find Kennedy irresistible now and as a running mate in two years. All others were chopped liver next to her sudden star power. But a strange thing is happening on the way to the coronation. The wheels of the bandwagon are coming off. Fantasy is giving way to inescapable truth. That truth is that Kennedy is not ready for the job and doesn't deserve it. Somebody who loves her should tell her. Her quest is becoming a cringe-inducing experience, as painful to watch as it must...

(Hawaii - 12/28/08) In between his busy pre-Presidential duties such as ordering breakfast, lunch, dinner, taking his kids to the park, having no opinion other than wait and see on the Israeli/Hamas conflict and berating the press for reporting on such minute and minor details as his exercise routine, Barack Obama opined today on the candidacy of Caroline Kennedy for U.S. Senator from New York. According to MSNBC, his opinion was forceful and to the point causing a tingling sensation in the leg of the reporter: “We will have to wait and see how this works itself out. Rest assured...

After a lifetime in the warm privacy of Camelot, U.S. Senate candidate Caroline Kennedy of New York is getting her first turn in the media barrel. And the ride has not been comfortable. Reporters have been going through all of quiet Caroline's voting history and all of her financial records to see whom she has been giving money to, and more importantly whom she has not been giving money to - namely the local Democratic Party. It reminds me of my first run for mayor when the San Francisco media demanded to see all of my tax returns. For the...

<p>Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg waits for the start of the third presidential debate in the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex at Hofstra University on Oct. 15, 2008 in Hempstead, N.Y.</p> <p>Officially, Gov. David Paterson's main focus is the state's fiscal crisis, not the decision about whom to appoint if, as expected, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is confirmed as secretary of state.</p>

More Caroline: Spoke to Hillary, won't run if not selected Made a little more news on NY1 tonight, telling host Dominic Carter that she finally spoke to Hillary Clinton -- who didn't initially take her call -- and that, if she's not selected, she won't run for the seat. "We did have a very nice, you know, conversation, and obviously I'm not gonna talk about that, except to say that she said this was the greatest job that she'd ever had and could imagine having," Kennedy said. "So, she was very encouraging, and that was, you know, that was nice...

Forget the Profiles in Courage award. For this interview yesterday Caroline Kennedy deserves the Profiles in Chutzpah Award. See, JFK’s only surviving child wants Hillary Clinton’s seat in the U.S. Senate, although she has absolutely no qualifications for the position other than her last name, which by the way used to be Schlossberg until last summer. Now all these dreadful, sweaty Albany and D.C. parvenus who actually had to run for political office are complaining about Ms. Kennedy’s ever-so-Kennedy-esque attempt to cut in line ahead of them. So Caroline grants - or should I say, grahhhhnts - an interview to...

Lack of donations to city, state Dems may hurt Caroline Kennedy's bid for Senate BY MICHAEL SAUL DAILY NEWS POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Friday, December 26th 2008, 1:20 AM President-elect Barack Obama and Caroline Kennedy during the presidential campaign. Dunand/Getty President-elect Barack Obama and Caroline Kennedy during the presidential campaign. Related News Articles Caroline Kennedy's supporters say she could raise tons of money as a senator, but when it comes to writing checks to New York Democrats, she's been largely AWOL. This decade, other than a $1,000 donation to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the Camelot heiress has not financially supported any...

NEW YORK — At this time last year, Caroline Kennedy was promoting A Family Christmas, a collection of essays that featured the memory of her father letting her use the White House switchboard to call Santa. This year, after warily stepping into the political free-for-all for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, Ms. Kennedy's activities during the holiday season included fending off requests to disclose financial information.

ALBANY - Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver yesterday strongly suggested that Gov. Paterson reject Caroline Kennedy as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's replacement - because she might be more loyal to Mayor Bloomberg than to the governor. "If I were the governor, I would look and question whether this is the appointment I'd want to make, where her first obligation might be to the mayor of the City of New York, rather than to the governor who would be appointing her," Silver said. He told Albany's Talk 1300-AM that he had no doubt that Bloomberg, a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent who twice defeated Democrats while...

We saw what happened when the mighty and powerful captains of Wall Street and the big banks asked for a giant blank check from Congress. What was promised to be a stimulus to our economy turned out to be a money grab in which the banks can't or won't tell us how they are using the money. They aren't making loans; they aren't assisting families or small businesses. They've turned out to be arrogant parasites. Now we're getting the political equivalent of this with Caroline Kennedy, the lone surviving member of the family of John F. Kennedy. She has the...

Gov. Paterson yesterday tamped down suggestions that Caroline Kennedy is at the top of the list to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, asking, "How is she a front-runner?" The comment came as Paterson was arriving back from a trip to Iraq to visit the troops with Reps. Anthony Weiner and Steve Israel at La Guardia Airport. The governor was hit with a crush of questions about the Camelot scion's push to replace Clinton, who will be nominated to become secretary of state. He bristled when a reporter described Kennedy - who has never been elected to office and whose qualifications...

Just when you didn't think the Dems could be any more criminal and wretched comes this word. Per Fox, Patterson ready to appoint Carolyn Schlossberg to the US Senate without her first meeting the legal requirements that she disclose her finances and taxes. Reportedly, this is because Carolyn has "special circumstances," whatever they are. The Princess reportedly will release what info she feels is appropriate after she is sworn in as a Senator. Now, just imagine if this were a Republican instead of Kennedy Royalty. WHERE are some conservative lawyers willing to fight this?? Oh, silly me!

ALBANY — Resistance is emerging among Democratic officials against Caroline Kennedy as she pursues Hillary Rodham Clinton’s seat in the United States Senate, with Gov. David A. Paterson bristling over suggestions that her selection is inevitable, according to his advisers, and other leading Democrats concerned that she is too beholden to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. The governor is frustrated and chagrined, the advisers said, because he believes that he extended Ms. Kennedy the chance to demonstrate her qualifications but that her operatives have exploited the opportunity to convey a sense that she is all but appointed already. He views this...

Caroline Kennedy apparently thinks that she is entitled to be appointed as the next junior senator from New York. She shouldn’t be. Think about it. Her qualifications? Her name is Kennedy and she can raise a lot of fat-cat money for herself and for New York Democrats who support her. Her strategy? Ignore the voters and the press and meet with the political bosses behind closed doors to persuade them to pressure Gov. David Paterson to appoint her to Hillary Clinton’s seat. Is there a more cynical message in the Age of Obama? Who’s supporting her? Among her chief backers...

Sen. Charles Schumer, arguably New York's most outspoken politician, has publicly pledged not to take sides as Caroline Kennedy and others seek appointment to the U.S. Senate. It's an unusual stance for the man who has picked or backed Senate candidates in every other state in the union. Schumer recently relinquished his role as head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, where he spent the past two elections hand-picking some candidates, and strategizing with others on how to win. Even his critics concede he was masterful at guiding Senate campaigns, helping the Democrats go from a minority party to a...

If she were applying to be, say, an undersecretary of education in Barack Obama’s new administration, Caroline Kennedy would have to fill out a 63-item confidential questionnaire disclosing potentially embarrassing text messages and diary entries, the immigration status of her household staff, even copies of every résumé she used in the last 10 years. If she were running for election to the Senate, Ms. Kennedy would have to file a 10-part, publicly available report disclosing her financial assets, credit card debts, mortgages, book deals and the sources of any payments greater than $5,000 in the last three years. But Ms....