Gov Patterson "underwhelmed" with Caroline Kennedy

ALBANY - She lost him at "hello."

Gov. Paterson was completely underwhelmed with Caroline Kennedy from their first conversation about Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, a source close to the governor said.

Paterson's thinking has become clearer in the two days since Kennedy withdrew her name for the Senate seat that Friday went to upstate Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-Hudson).

Friends said Paterson was adamant that she was never going to be appointed, even though she was considered the front-runner.

Paterson was turned off when Kennedy first called him and asked if she "could" be considered for the seat.

By asking if she could, rather than saying she wanted to be considered, Paterson immediately felt she wasn't really interested, the source said.

In meetings, the governor and his aides decided she had no political depth, the source said.

She had no firmly held views and little idea about why she wanted the job, the source said.

Her abysmal public rollout cemented the governor's fears that she had no political instincts.

The governor felt the sheltered Kennedy had no communication skills and absolutely no empathy with the voters, the source said.

He was amazed that she went upstate for a day to meet with political leaders but didn't walk around to chat up regular people.

"She just lived in a bubble," the source said.

The nonstop Kennedy coverage, at the expense of the others Paterson was considering, also irked the governor, friends said.

He felt it made the other candidates look like they were second-best. He also felt she lacked the ambassadorial skills to make the case for New York.

Kennedy, her husband, Ed Schlossberg, and their daughter Tatiana emerged from her apartment building last night and walked 26 blocks to Restaurant Nippon on E. 52nd St. where they met a party of three.

People pointed and whispered as she walked past, but no one spoke to her.The family chowed down on beef sukiyaki.

As she walked back to her upper East Side apartment, she was asked what she thought of Gillibrand's selection.

"I wish her well. Very much so. Very much," Kennedy said, adding, "Good luck."

Asked if she was disappointed in her decision, she responded, "No."