Critics have slammed Ms Kennedy's lack of governmental experience and the way she evaded basic questions from the press. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALBANY (NEW YORK) - WHEN Ms Caroline Kennedy made it known she wanted to take over the Senate seat to be vacated by Ms Hillary Clinton, slated to be the next Secretary of State, she seemed a near certainty for the job.
But in just a few weeks, Ms Kennedy, the daughter of assassinated US president John F. Kennedy, has found herself on shaky ground.
In recent interviews, Ms Kennedy, 51, has offered wide-ranging explanations for wanting the job, which include the Sept 11, 2001 terror attacks on Manhattan - even though she has lived there since the 1960s, President-elect Barack Obama's encouragement, and the commitment to public service by her father and others in her family.
While critics - including some Democrats - have slammed her lack of governmental experience, news organisations say she has ducked basic questions about issues, and is not specific about why she wants to be, or should be, New York's junior senator.
She stumbled badly during a recent interview with the New York Times, repeatedly using the phrase 'you know', which she uttered 142 times and which was left in the transcript when it appeared in print, Britain's Daily Telegraph said.
NYT said: 'She seemed less like a candidate than an idea of one: eloquent but vague, largely undefined and...determined to remain that way.'
A New York Daily News columnist said 'the wheels of the bandwagon are coming off'.
