The smart thing for Paterson to do would be to shunt off one of his rivals for the Governorship in 2010. Of those rivals, Cuomo would seem to head the list.

However, the Senate seat and the Governorship are up at the same time, so there'd be nothing stopping Cuomo from coming back for a run. And in denying Kennedy this time around, Paterson may in fact create another Governorship rival.

Fascinating, though...

Does Kennedy have any actual experience? I wish this country would get over that family already. Like we got over the Clintons and the Bushes in the last election.

I would think that Kennedy's extra-governmental experience (if I can call it that) would be just as much, if not more, than Clinton's was when she was elected. But -- Clinton was elected.

Dynasty politics do have an anti-democratic strain to them. Admittedly, it becomes a tricky point for me on a personal level, when the Kennedys' politics are quite in line with my own.

Intersection of MILF/sympathy/East-Coast-Royalty vote. Pretty potent.

Meanwhile, the guest on today's World View (Chicago Public Radio), thought Blago was corrupt even by Italian standards. ouch.