While I'm always wary of someone with any Republican ties in the family, it's not as if she is beholden strictly to the voters of her now former district any longer. While in charge of the DSCC, Schumer managed to recruit enough decent Senate challengers the last two election cycles to win and often in very tight races in every corner of the country. Coming off the heels of that success, it's a good bet that Schumer's judgement on where the trends in the state might be heading would carry sway with Paterson.

There's always risk with any choice. Kennedy might have made some pockets of people happy in the state, but the the impression given outside of the state might have been that Democrats always will give a free ride to certain families. It could go either way. It's risk management at the end.

Based on what evidence? Because that's your opinion? Kennedy wouldn't be my top choice to fill the seat, but she's better than any crackpot Scientologist like Travolta and certainly no worse than Schumer, who's been in the pockets of Wall Street robber barons since the mid-1990's while turning a blind eye towards calls for stronger enforcement of SEC regulations, or Clinton, who hadn't held any previous elected office and had to break the bank to secure election against a couple Republican no-names in one of the safest blue states in the country.

And what on earth makes Paterson fit for the office he's in other than that he isn't paying absurd sums of money to have sex with call-girls like his predecessor did? This guy has had plenty of time to get this right and he picks somebody with backing from the NRA of all groups? Truly an uninspiring choice to say the least. If Paterson "never had any intention" of choosing Kennedy, then he should have been honest enough to tell her that in the beginning of the process that he has clearly botched on the PR front every bit as bad, if not worse, than she has.

Kennedy may be far from perfect, but she's been a tireless advocate for causes that were once at the very core of the Democratic base that others such as Schumer, Clinton, and Paterson have spent countless years ignoring while in their quest for political advancement. Just because your "so glad she's gone" doesn't make her any less fit for the job. If Schumer, Clinton and Paterson are the acceptable standard, then Kennedy is by all means qualified.

Hey there Obama...err...is it Osama? Heck with the both of ya being Muslims and so tall I can't really tell which one of ya is which being as my head is already where the sun never shines anyway.

Well whichever one ya are, don't get to used to hangin round for too long. Saw my daddy just last week sayin my brother, Jeb, ought to give this job a try. Yeah, that's right. Keep that seat warm for little brother Jeb in 4 years becuz we're gonna smoke ya out!

Dubya43

P.S. Dubya43-I like that. I'm gonna have Laura try to get that on my license plates so everybody gets out of my way when they see me a comin!

I was thinking nearly the exact same thing after observing some of her press briefings. Some men I know remark that she's good looking, as others have here. I don't know but I just don't see it. I thought Dee Dee Myers was a hell of alot more compelling in looks and personal depth while not hiding behind the stale platitudes that Perino had to continually resort to when confronted with tough questions.

I'm not convinced as of yet that Perino will be able to parlay her stint as WHPS into a sustainable career in politics or public relations. Snow already had a TV gig before, McClellan didn't break the bank with his tell-all book, and Fleischer's Freedom's Watch basically crashed and burned on the runway. It's hard to believe she has any more significant friends and connections than any of those three had and with the Reagan revolution over, the demand for right wing talking heads and apologists may not be high enough to employ all of them waiting in line. There's a chance that when the music stops, Perino could be without a chair.

Then again, if Ann Coulter gets banned for real next time from NBC, or Glen Beck falls off the wagon and starts playing Barak The Magic Negro on the air at FOX, she might be in luck.