RFK Jr. Out of the Running for EPA, NY Senate Seat

[RFKJrNews]

STRIKE TWO!


Less than a month ago, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told the Huffington Post in response to rumors that he might be tapped to run President Obama’s EPA or Interior Department, “if asked, I will serve.”

Well, it seems that something has changed since then. Either he wasn’t asked, or was asked and after weighing the various options and potential consequences, decided that a cabinet post is not in his future.

Today, the NY Daily News is reporting that if asked, Kennedy most likely will not serve after all:

- Robert Kennedy Jr. sounds like he’s definitely taking himself out of the running for head of the Environmental Protection Agency. “I have six mouths to feed,” the eco-crusader told us at Monday’s Waterkeeper Alliance/Conde Nast soiree, where James Blunt performed. “But I’d love to be involved with anything the Obama administration does.”

Kennedy told the crowd he’s now “driving a Lexus hybrid. My daughters said it’s the first grown-up car I’ve had.”

So that, apparently, settles that! Looks like Mr. Kennedy won’t be going to Washington this year. Or next.

But what about that senate seat? Ever since President-elect Obama announced Hillary Clinton as his nominee for secretary of state on Monday, speculation has run rampant as to whether or not Kennedy would be appointed to fill out her term of office in the senate. But no, it appears he doesn’t want that gig, either.

JUST SAY NO

Yesterday, RFK Jr. telephoned New York governor David Paterson and asked that his name be removed from the list of potential appointees. Considering that he has often expressed a strong desire to reclaim the senate seat once held by his father, the reaction to Kennedy’s announcement has been a mix of surprise and disappointment among his many faithful supporters.

The push for Kennedy as Clinton’s replacement was strong; there was even a short-lived Facebook group organized to promote RFK Jr. for the Senate (Kennedy was the only contender to have such support).

But Kennedy isn’t alone in his mad dash for the sidelines. He’s got good company on the bench. On Monday, Nita Lowey (D-Westchester), once considered a prime choice, withdrew her name from consideration. And on Tuesday, former president Bill Clinton announced that he was “not interested” in occupying his wife’s senate seat when/if it becomes available. So that’s three down, hundreds more hopefuls to go...

Story continues at:
http://rfkjrnews.com/2008/12/03/rfk-jr-out-of-the-running-for-cabinet-senate/

[DainBramaged]

1. SO, he couldn't drive a Chevy Malibu Hybrid, Saturn Green Vue, or Ford Hybrid

he drives a LEXUS Hybrid.:eyes:

Way to go Bobby, way to go. Keep those jobs in America.

[polichick]

2. Doesn't the EPA job come with a salary big enough to feed six mouths?

[cali]

8. Disingenuous of Bobby. He has plenty of the family money

to live a very U lifestyle.

[Captain Hilts]

18. THIS is the kind of legacy people should be complaining about...

if he had that drug rap and isn't a Kennedy, no way he'd be in public service or considered for candidacy of a major office.

[cali]

20. True enough.

And though I think he's a good guy, his personal and legal history do not recommend him to an appointment.

[Captain Hilts]

22. I agree he's a decent/good guy. nt

[robcon]

3. He pre-empts the disappointment:: takes his name out of the running.

That's a common political response, when someone finds out he won't be asked, e.g., to be Senator or cabinet official.

RFK, Jr. lost me when he promoted the pseudo-science of the supposed effects of vaccines on autism. No credibility, no integrity, IMO.

[RFKJrNews]

6. Yep, I figure that is the case

Methinks it became apparent to Kennedy that he wouldn't be asked to serve, so he did what most political hopefuls do...

"I wouldn't want the job, anyway!":)

Actually, I believe he DID want that job. Very, very much.

[Captain Hilts]

10. That's exactly what I think is going on here.

Perhaps Patterson was irked at RFKjr's campaigning for the job.

[RFKJrNews]

14. Very possible...

I wonder how irked the Clintons are at the notion of Caroline in that senate seat?

I rather doubt they have overlooked her switch to Obama during the primary election season...word has it they were pretty pissed. And understandably so...somehow I just don't see that all being "forgiven and forgotten" quite so easily.

RFK Jr. did support Sen. Clinton until the bitter end, when it became clear his candidate had lost the nomination. So rewarding him with a vacant senate seat seemed entirely plausible. Caroline? Er....maybe not so much.

(edited for spelling because I've got butterfingers today!)

[Captain Hilts]

15. I don't think they're irked. HRC won Massachusetts and NY handily. nt

[RFKJrNews]

16. And Obama won the nomination handily...

Thanks in large part to the efforts of Caroline and Ted Kennedy. When they stepped up to the plate for Obama in S.C., it truly was the turning point in this race. Unfortunately for the Clintons, the tide turned away from them.

I'm guessing they might still be just a bit sore about that...but ya never know! All's fair in love and politics!

[Captain Hilts]

17. The tide had turned against Clinton by March '07. But round the clock...

campaigning in California, NY and, particularly Massachusetts, did not stop Clinton from winning big in those states.

Politicians know that politics makes strange bedfellows. I'm sure none of the above have a problem with it. These folks 'play well with others'.

[karynnj]

24. True, but not by the margins she was getting before

I know in NJ, she would have gotten many more delegates had she gotten the incredible landslide she was likely to get before that week - it looks like the same was true in MA and CA. There was some possibility that she could keep all the other candidates in CA and MA from getting above the threshold needed to get delegates. What is clear is that HRC expected to have made her nomination a fait accompli on SuperTuesday - running up a prohibitive lead in delegates. It was the next week when the articles on super delegates maybe going for a person with a slightly lower regular delegate count started.

[karynnj]

23. Switch? She never endorsed Clinton

If Obama could forgive the Clintons for their attacks, certainly the Clintons should be expected to forgive Caroline Kennedy for making a positive endorsement of Obama - she said nothing negative about HRC - nor did either of the MA Senators.

[RFKJrNews]

27. Caroline

and all of the Kennedys were longtime political allies of the Clintons ...until the primary season this year when they split off into different camps. Of course, that is now in the past, so watch, wait and see what happens...

[karynnj]

29. That friendship gig not mean that she would endorse Hillary

Ted Kennedy actually endorsed Kerry in 2005 and repeated that endorsement even in January 2007 until Kerry said he wasn't running. He then did not move to endorsing Hillary.

I don't think the Kennedys endorsed Bill Clinton in 1992 before the general election. They did of course support him as President.

[bertman]

31. I find it unsettling to hear the "if RFK doesn't take it, then Bill will take it, or Caroline

will be the one to take it" as if the Kennedy's and Clinton's deserve the seat.

That is called oligarchy, folks. American aristocracy. Thank you, but let's get some new Progressive blood into our government. There are lots of hard-working Democrats who have come up in the ranks who would serve the people of New York and the USA well.

If I never see another Clinton, Kennedy, Bush or Rockefeller in office again I will not be in the least disappointed.

[RFKJrNews]

32. Salon.com ran an excellent article about that very subject today

"Nepotistic succession in the political class" by Glenn Greenwald.

Perhaps "ruling class" would have been a more appropriate headline?

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/12/03/aristocracy/index.html

[bdamomma]

4. so who will fill the vacancy?

[RFKJrNews]

7. Well, the latest scuttlebutt is...

Caroline!

[Captain Hilts]

19. I'm rooting for her. nt

[Selatius]

5. He was probably considered too left wing for a governing centrist coalition.

My guess, anyway.

[cali]

9. He was probably considered too contentious a nomination

1) A Felony conviction and having been a junkie.

2) His views on vaccines being a cause of autism, when the science contradicts that position.

Damn that pragmatism!

[ozone_man]

11. Ha! That would be sad if the case.

But it wouldn't surprise me considering the others Obama has appointed.

Kennedy does have good environmental qualifications though.

[AlinPA]

12. I'm expecting Obama to pick Kathleen McGinty (former PA DEP Sec.).

http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=461275

[Odin2005]

13. Thank God. us Autistic Rights folks don't want a anti-vaccine woo hbeading the EPA.. n/t.,

[robcon]

21. Autistic Rights folks?????

Who the hell are they? Who could possibly be against Autistic Rights?

The pseudo-scientific (actually just political) story about the vaccines is pure bunk. That hokum was disproved clinically (no effect from the mercury form in the vaccines); statistically (vaccine-takers have NO higher autism levels than non-takers) and cross-sectionally (countries that adopted the vaccine earlier had no higher rates of autism - countries that allowed the latest form of the vaccines later had no reduced level of autism in the meantime.)

RFK, Jr.: no logic or integrity. Pure scare tactic to generate publicity. Vaccines have NO EFFECT on autism.

[Odin2005]

25. "Who could possibly be against Autistic Rights?" People that think we need to be "cured"...

Groups like Autism Speaks and people like Jenny McCarthy are examples.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

26. Maybe Scottish wizards can give him a job protecting Nessie.

I hear Japanese scientists are trying to blow her out of the water with explosives.

[RFKJrNews]

28. Even I gotta admit...

that's pretty damn funny, bornaginhooligan.

Nessie. :)

Just blew coffee out of my nose laughing.

Well, I needed to replace this keyboard anyway...so, thanks.

[Ex Lurker]

30. Good, we don't need family dynasties in politics

be they named Kennedy, Bush, or Clinton.