SYRACUSE (New York) - CAROLINE Kennedy finally made public her desire to carry on her famous family's legacy, reaching out to a handful of political leaders on Wednesday in a carefully choreographed effort to win support for her quest to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the US Senate.

The daughter of slain President John F. Kennedy was driven across New York state, hitting three of its four biggest cities to talk to elected officials and Democratic party power brokers alike. She bypassed Albany, the state capital and seat of political power.

In Rochester, Ms Kennedy stuck closely to a tightly controlled script but started to sound themes apparently designed to assuage those who question her readiness for a high-profile elected office.

She has never held office before.

'I just hope everybody understands that it is not a campaign but that I have had a lifelong devotion to public service,' she said.

'I've written books on the constitution and the importance of individual participation. I think I really could help bring change to Washington.'

Before that, in Syracuse, her handlers cut her off when she was asked what her qualifications were to be a US senator. As she left Syracuse City Hall, the first of her brief stops, she spoke briefly to a group of reporters and took no questions.

'I just wanted to say, as some of you may have heard, I would be honoured to be considered for the position of US senator,' Ms Kennedy said. 'I wanted to come upstate to meet Mayor Driscoll and others to tell them about my experience and also learn how Washington can help upstate New York.'

Ms Kennedy, 51, took note of the crowded field of elected officials who have been named as possible successors to Mrs Clinton, who has been nominated to be secretary of state. Gov David Paterson is tasked with naming the new senator.

'There are lot of good candidates the governor is considering and he's laid out a process and I'm proud to be in that process,' she said.

Mr Paterson has said he won't name a replacement until Mrs Clinton is confirmed, which won't happen until at least the end of January. The new senator will have to run in 2010 to fill the last two years of Mrs Clinton's term and then run for a full term in 2012.

In response to a reporter's question later in Rochester, Ms Kennedy said that if Mr Paterson doesn't appoint her, she will run for the office.

'Absolutely,' she said.

Meanwhile, Rep Charles Rangel, a close adviser to Paterson, suggested the governor may have already made up his mind.

'The governor has privately shared with me his decision to name a candidate and I support that decision,' Mr Rangel said in an interview with WNET in New York. Asked when the rest of the state would know, Mr Rangel said, 'when he picks that candidate'.

A Rangel spokesman, though, immediately told The Associated Press the congressman's comments do not mean he knows who the next senator will be.

Ms Kennedy is the highest profile name in the race to take the seat once held by her uncle, Robert F. Kennedy.

Her upstate outreach is similar to Mrs Clinton's 'listening tour' in 1999 and 2000 when she first ran for the Senate.

Like Mrs Clinton, Ms Kennedy faces criticism because she has never been elected to public office. Some also worry she would favour New York City interests over the rest of the state.

Ms Kennedy's willingness to embrace the public life of a US senator surprised some after her lifetime of carefully cultivated privacy.

A Siena College poll released on Wednesday found New York voters are divided over who should fill the seat and that approval ratings for 51-year-old Kennedy and Attorney-General Andrew Cuomo, the son of former Gov Mario Cuomo, are nearly identical.

More New Yorkers believe Mr Paterson will choose Ms Kennedy, by a 31-16 per cent margin. Thirty-eight per cent said they didn't know or refused to answer and 16 per cent felt Mr Paterson would pick someone else.

The telephone survey of 622 registered voters last week had a margin of error of about plus or minus 4 percentage points. -- AP