Dec 16, 2008 10:31 am US/Eastern
Caroline Kennedy Ready To Emerge From The Shadows
Sources Tell CBS 2 HD Princess Of Camelot Recruits Support From Power Brokers Quinn, Silver, Sharpton
Friends: Focus In Senate Would Be On Education, Health Care
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Caroline Kennedy and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg pictured in this file photo from 2004.
Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images
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Caroline Kennedy has made it official. She told Gov. David Paterson on Monday she wants to be his pick to replace Hillary Clinton in the United States Senate.
She is the highest profile candidate to actively lobby for the post.
Talk Back: Is Caroline Kennedy Ready?
For just over five decades she has been the princess of Camelot, a woman who, for the most part, shunned the political spotlight embraced by her father, her uncles and her cousins.
But on Monday Kennedy decided she wants to enter the family business.
It is a Senate seat that has long been held by political celebrities who had not held prior elective office. First Lady Hillary Clinton grabbed the seat in 2000. Robert F. Kennedy got it in 1965. Now, Caroline Kennedy wants Gov. Paterson to give it to her.
Paterson said Monday that "it's not a campaign" and that Kennedy would like "at some point to sit down."
Caroline Kennedy is not the only person who wants to succeed Clinton. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is said to be in the running, as are Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and a host of congressmen and mayors from around the state.
Pundits say she'll have to prove herself.
"She brings star power to a prospective ticket. She is clearly a well know name, a household name and in fact a legendary name in American politics. [She will] weigh that against inexperience in the rough and tumble of electoral politics on her own behalf," said David Birdsell of Baruch College.
Sources told CBS 2 HD that Caroline Kennedy is already rolling up her sleeves for the political battle. She's called loads of Democrats to get their support -- everyone from NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Assembly Speaker Sheldon silver to Time Warner honcho Dick Parsons and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
"She's diligent," Sharpton told CBS 2 HD. "She's very studious, very methodical. She's nobody you can underestimate."
Just last week, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg glowed in his review of Kennedy.
"Caroline Kennedy can do anything, I think," Bloomberg said.
The reaction on the streets across the tri-state area was mixed.
"I don't think she's qualified," said Ayten Adler of New Rochelle. "I don't think she's done anything and if it weren't for her name we wouldn't be talking about her."
"I think everyone learns on the job," Elena Zarchy of Manhasset said. "I, myself, was a teacher. People will show her the way and she'll make it there."
"I wonder what kind of experience she has," added Tom McKenna of Midtown.
Caroline Kennedy is a graduate of Harvard and Columbia Law. She has also written seven books, helped Barack Obama select a vice presidential running mate, and in New York City has raised millions for public education.
Friends told CBS 2 HD she wants to concentrate on education and health care in the Senate.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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