Unfortunately for Caroline Kennedy, whatever the real reason she decided to drop out of consideration for Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, every possible explanation is going to be turned over by blogs and the gossip press for the time being. (She should have known better than to have left this whole mess on a note of mystery.) This includes all of the suggestions raised by Governor Paterson’s team: her tax history, her personal employees, and even her marriage to Edwin Schlossberg. Reading this morning’s coverage, it seems to us that no reporters have any real information indicating one way or another. But since both Paterson and Kennedy sources raised the specter of marital woes, expect the speculation to continue to run rampant.
“Reporters are starting to look at her marriage more closely,” a Paterson ally told the Post yesterday. And a Kennedy friend hinted to the Daily News that Schlossberg “basically said it would destroy the marriage” if she moved to D.C. What will be worse than the speculation, though, will be the continued scrutiny from the part of the city tabloids and supermarket weeklies. The Enquirer has already started circling around the family, and as we all know from the saga of John Edwards, those guys don’t give up until they draw blood. Sadly for Caroline, we predict that she’s going to continue to reap all of the negative aspects of public life that she so long avoided, without even the public office to show for it.
NASTY CAROLINE WAR [NYP]
Caroline cites ‘personal issues’ while Paterson aides whisper she was ‘unsure’ and ‘overwhelmed’ [NYDN]
