Lost amid all the speculation about Caroline Kennedy being appointed to take over Hillary Clinton's Senate seat are two questions: 1) Does she have a chance of getting the job and 2) Does she even want it?
Asked about the rumors that began swirling late last week, Gov.. David Patterson put the ball squarely in her court.
"Part of the consideration is how willing people are to serve, so I would figure if they were willing, they would make the request. I haven’t really taken anyone in hand and asked them," he said in an interview on Sunday night, reports The New York Times.
That said, the odds of Caroline Getting the job are no better than 20-1to-1, says, New York Post columnist Frederic Dicker.
Among Patterson's reservations about Kennedy are that she "doesn't have the personality to be an aggressive fighter in the Senate on behalf of the state's increasingly desperate need for federal financial help," writes Dicker.
Kennedy has traditionally been a behind-the-scenes force, "even when she was out front on something important, she still wanted to find a way to stay in the background," notes Mike Lupica of The Daily News.
That changed this year as she came out early in support of Barack Obama and served on the selection committee that picked Joe Biden to be his running mate. But is she ready to be a senator?
"Right now, it's more of a family push than her own," a source told The Daily News.
While Kennedy dithers, Andrew Cuomo has been very open about his aspirations to be appointed to the seat. Cuomo was once married to Kennedy's cousin, Kerry.
The pair parted ways after he confronted her about an affair she was having with a close friend of his. The whole thing devolved into a very messy and public divorce.
And of course there's the question of how Clinton would feel about being replaced in the Senate by a woman whom she feels betrayed her during the Democratic primary by supporting Obama.
The president-elect, for his part, wants no part of the intrigue.
"Caroline Kennedy has become one of my dearest friends and is just a wonderful American, a wonderful person,” Mr. Obama said. “But the last thing I want to do is get involved in New York politics," he told Tom Brokaw on "Meet the Press."
"I've got enough trouble in terms of Illinois politics."
