The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act passes. Surely our economy is now doomed. DOOOOOMED.
The vote in the Senate was 61-36. As Kevin Drum notes, all 56 Democrats (seriously, can we get this up to the actual 59 sometime soon?) voted for it. The 5 Republicans who joined them: the four women in the GOP caucus and Arlen Spector (who has to be petrified at the idea of running in Pennsylvania, or “I made my last stand here?!” as John McCain likes to call it, in 2010). Hmmmmmm.
Also, Caroline Kennedy commits an act of political self-immolation the likes of which are rarely seen. Is she running? Is she not? Wait, she is. No, she’s pulling out. No, she’s in it to win it! Oops, no, she’s definitely out.
The one conclusion that can be drawn from this is that she worried that Paterson might conceivably still pick her even though she said she didn’t want it, so she felt the need to demonstrate in full view exactly WHY she probably shouldn’t have the job. Either that, or the whole thing was some sort of bizarro performance art that will only be explained once it’s all over.
It’s weird because by all accounts she’s a totally capable, intelligent woman. Her campaign of the past month has shown little evidence of it however.
So now I guess the odds are on Andrew Cuomo – who totally resolves my complaint about political dynasties, what with him not being related to any famous New York politicans and all…
UPDATE: Whooops. Spoke too soon. Turns out he picked Kirsten Gillibrand, who I admit to never having heard of in my life. This, from the NYT article linked above, doesn’t sound particularly promising:
If Mr. Paterson was hoping to quiet the tumult over the selection process by picking Ms. Gillibrand, there were indications that he may not get his wish. Ms. Gillibrand, who has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, is controversial among some of the party’s more liberal leaders downstate.
Representative Carolyn McCarthy, a Long Island Democrat and ardent gun control activist, said Thursday that if Ms. Gillibrand got the job, she was prepared to run against her in a primary in 2010. Ms. McCarthy was elected to Congress after her husband was killed in a gunman’s rampage on the Long Island Rail Road in 1993.
Ms. Gillibrand’s selection was a careful political calculation by the governor, who will run for his second term as governor in 2010, when Ms. Gillibrand will also be on the ballot. The choice reflects Mr. Paterson’s thinking that his selection should be someone who can help him attract key demographics — in Ms. Gillibrand’s case upstate New Yorkers and women.