Nick Confessore, who's been all over the Caroline Kennedy story, has a great piece in today's Times about the emerging backlash. Among other things, it sounds like David Paterson also doesn't understand why Caroline gets to run an aggressive campaign (except for the part about answering questions and stumping for votes) while all the other potential appointees have to stand around looking pretty.
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 as an attempt to box him in, the advisers said.
“You have people going around saying, ‘Oh yeah, it’s a done deal,’ ” said one of the advisers, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the selection process and did not want to anger the governor. “The quickest way to not get something you want is to step into somebody’s face.”
The involvement of Bloomberg and his operatives isn't sitting well either.
--Noam Scheiber