Cuomo remains coy on interest in Senate seat
ALBANY — State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo offered an explanation Thursday for declining to say whether he has told Gov. David A. Paterson he wants to be appointed to succeed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: privacy between an attorney and his client.
The attorney general, who officially serves as the governor’s lawyer, beat back a barrage of questions from reporters seeking to gauge his interest in the job, which Paterson will fill when Clinton steps down next year to become secretary of state in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama.
“The conversations between the governor and myself are private. Why? Because I’m the attorney general, because we have an attorney-client relationship,” he said.
Asked if he is interested, Cuomo said, “My position is: I have a job. I’m the attorney general of the State of New York. I have my hands full. I enjoy doing it.”
Cuomo and Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, are the biggest names in the mix, which also includes in excess of a dozen politicians.
Cuomo, who went through a nasty divorce several years ago with Kerry Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy’s cousin, is being pushed by some Democrats who see him as being best able to win the seat in 2010.
Asked if Kennedy is qualified to serve as senator, Cuomo said, “I’ve known Caroline for years. I have a high opinion of her, but that’s going to be up to the governor.”
But saying he wasn’t interested in the job would not be appropriate, Cuomo said. “It’s a little presumptuous for someone to say, ‘I’m not interested,’ ” he said.
Told by a reporter that Paterson has said Cuomo has not asked to be formally considered, Cuomo said: “Then that’s what the governor said. My rule is I’m going to keep my conversations private. To the extent the governor wants to talk to you about my conversations, the conversations we’ve had, that’s totally up to him.”
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