As Barack Obama's tax-delinquent Treasury pick Tim Geithner appears to be sailing smoothly towards nomination, it seems Caroline Kennedy's once all-but-apparent ascension to the vacant Senate seat for New York seems to be dead in the water and sinking fast.
As the New York Times is reporting, tax issues appear to be responsible for sinking the Kennedy bid:
ALBANY - Problems involving taxes and a household employee surfaced during the vetting of Caroline Kennedy and derailed her candidacy for the Senate, a person close to Gov. David A. Paterson said on Thursday, in an account at odds with Ms. Kennedy’s own description of her reasons for withdrawing.
The account emerged 14 hours after Ms. Kennedy announced that she was taking her name out of contention for the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton, and as Mr. Paterson appeared to be leaning toward selecting Representative Kirsten E. Gillibrand, an upstate lawmaker in her second term in Congress.
Hard feelings toward Ms. Kennedy were clearly building among the governor’s staff on Thursday, after a dramatic evening in which she was reported to be dropping out, then wavering, then ultimately, shortly after midnight on Thursday, issuing a statement ending her candidacy.
Along with Geithnergate, the Blago scandal, the Roland Burris sideshow, and questions over former President Bill Clinton's fundraising, there's clearly plenty of room for media wags to ponder a Democratic culture of corruption.
While I'm not holding my breath there, it is refreshing to see at least one liberal journo crack a joke about Kennedy and Geithner. From a Jan. 22 Swampland blog post by Karen Tumulty:
The NYT, quoting a source close to Governor David Paterson, is reporting that problems involving taxes and a housekeeper derailed Caroline Kennedy's Senate bid.
BAD NEWS: She won't get to be a Senator.
GOOD NEWS: She can still be Treasury Secretary.
