Following a brief, torturous foray into the public spotlight, Caroline Kennedy has retreated back into privacy. And if there's one thing on which political spectators agree, it's that she is unlikely to rush to repeat the experience."After the beating that she took, a sane person would not want to subject themselves to that," said Doug Muzzio, a political science professor at Baruch College.
Her campaign for an appointment to the senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton started with a halting rollout and ended this past week in a spectacular implosion -- marred at the end by accusations leveled by someone close to the governor.
Kennedy is telling friends she won't be stepping away from the public sphere entirely, although it remains unclear what path she might take. Rumors abound that, given her early endorsement of now-President Barack Obama, she could land a federal appointment.
In a matter of months, America's dominant image of the daughter of slain President John F. Kennedy was transformed from that of the adorable little girl riding a pony on the White House lawn to that of someone more complicated -- a woman who remained connected to her father's Camelot legend but who was now forging a bumpy public path of her own.
She drew fire throughout her campaign. Critics questioned her experience and accused her of profiting off her family name. She was attacked for declining to answer questions, then was lampooned for giving interviews replete with conversational fillers such as "um" and "you know."
Some accused her of not explaining clearly enough why she wanted the job, while others worried she seemed ill at ease under the spotlight and questioned if she could win election to the seat in 2010.
Friends and supporters maintained that the 51-year-old Kennedy was driven by a passion for public service. They argued that the unconventional path she had followed allowed her to build a resume as a fundraiser, mediator and legal thinker -- all skills they said would help her excel on Capitol Hill.
Kennedy herself cited her "relationships" in Washington, and supporters believed her friendship with Obama and her closeness with her uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, would smooth her way. Associates said her verbal glitches had never gotten in the way of her reputation as a brilliant mind and gifted writer.
But early Thursday, she confirmed she had dropped out of contention, and on Friday Gov. David Paterson announced he was appointing Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand -- a little-known Democrat from a rural upstate district -- as Clinton's successor.
Kennedy's decision to withdraw played out messily Wednesday over hours of conflicting accounts in which she apparently wavered in her determination to win the seat, ending with a terse, one-sentence e-mail to reporters after midnight in which she cited "personal reasons" for her withdrawal.
On Thursday, a person close to the governor claimed she was facing possible tax and "nanny" problems, and there were media rumors that her marriage was on the rocks. A Kennedy spokesman complained that the mudslinging demeaned what had been a fair process.