The whole New York senate spectacle...

...turned into a disaster for both Caroline Kennedy and Governor David Paterson. Ms. Kennedy, who I'll bet is a very admirable person in private, came across as entitled, inarticulate, and indecisive. She's got to regret this whole thing. But Paterson came off even worse. He let the process go on way too long, attract too much attention, and in the end lost control. What could have been a great opportunity for him turned into a circus. In contrast, Governor Rod Blagojevich looked professional. How would you like to be the only person in American politics to be unfavorably compared with him?

I still think the model going forward should be for a governor to appoint an elder statesman or -woman as caretaker until the next election. It would be a nice ceremonial victory lap and take the politics out of the process. Then let the real contenders jockey for position with the voters making the ultimate decision.