NEW YORK — Could this be an episode of "Family Feud," New York style?
The contestants: Clintons, Kennedys and Cuomos, America's most famous Democratic dynasties. The prize they're sniffing around: a U.S. Senate seat, soon to be vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.
This week, Caroline Kennedy made it clear that she, like Andrew Cuomo, wants Clinton's spot after the senator ascends to secretary of State. Famously press-shy, Kennedy created a political spectacle -- part civics, part soap opera and, for its audience worldwide, utterly captivating.
But first the back story for this saga of ambition, divorce and betrayal:
Kennedy's cousin was once married to Cuomo, and it ended badly.
Kennedy and her uncle Ted once endorsed Clinton's opponent (a.k.a. Barack Obama) and, well, for Clinton that ended badly.
Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, and Cuomo's dad, former New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, clashed as far back as five presidential campaigns ago -- and apparently some of that enmity still lingers.
To cite Andrew Cuomo's daughter, as quoted by her mom this week on the "Today" show: "This is very awkward."
Now to the latest chapter:
Caroline Kennedy became an instant front-runner to be the senator from New York, the hometown media has been gushing, and power brokers like New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are falling over each other to endorse her.
Some Clintonistas are gagging at Kennedy's unalloyed ambition. But Clinton sent out word Tuesday that they should put a lid on it, presumably because her new boss (a.k.a. the president-elect) is a big fan of Kennedy, and because Clinton has Senate confirmation hearings ahead and doesn't need anyone smudging her image.
As for the voters, frankly, until the next election in 2010 they're irrelevant.
For now, only one voter counts -- and he is New York Gov. David Paterson, another dynastic politician, whose father, Basil, was once a major power in New York politics.
Paterson gets to pick Clinton's successor knowing that person's name will appear above his on the ballot when he asks voters, for the first time, to elect him governor. (He was Eliot Spitzer's lieutenant before Spitzer quit after being busted for consorting with prostitutes.)
"As we always say, politics in New York is a different ballgame," said pollster Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, adding, "Illinois may be making headlines, but it's still the Second City."
