Five Candidates for Hillary Clinton's Senate Seat

Last week, we gave you an odds chart for the highly coveted Illinois Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. Well, back east in New York, Sen. Hillary Clinton's promotion to the State Department has set off a similar scramble.

Choosing Hillary's replacement is Gov. David Paterson, who, unlike his Illinois counterpart Rod Blagojevich, won't be rewarded with $500,000 and a cushy ambassadorship for his selection. He also doesn't tend to hold wildly defensive press conferences while wearing a wet cat on his head, so this race isn't nearly as fun.

Nevertheless, here are your odds on the leading contenders:

Candidate	Pros	Cons	Odds of Appointment
Thomas Suozzi Nassau County Executive	Well-regarded executive of a populous Long Island county.	Would face a challenging re-election in 2010 due to poor name recognition.	3 : 1
Caroline Kennedy Political Scion	A Kennedy.	Very real possibility she will forget to vote for herself.	4 : 1
Andrew Cuomo State Attorney General	A Cuomo.	America may not be ready for a Catholic Senator.	8 : 1
Elmer Kennedy Forklift Operator	A Kennedy. Has voted several times and saw most of Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.	Wrong Kennedys.	5000 : 1
Eliot Spitzer Former Governor	Plenty of room on his schedule. Paterson owes him big time.	As governor, opposed subsidies to upstate millet farmers.	4300 : 1 hour