Caroline Kennedy has been telling people she pulled out of senate contention due to uncle Ted's deteriorating health. But that was apparently after she learned she wouldn't get the gig anyway.

The Post's original, cryptic scoop offered no rationale for Kennedy's withdrawal. Then, a person "told of [Kennedy's] decision" told the Times Kennedy chalked the move up to her worries about Sen. Ted Kennedy's ill health.

People immediately started calling bullshit. Ted Kennedy has been on deathwatch since before the start of Kennedy's non-bid bid for senate. Now she's worried?

The plot thickens! The Post, which broke the news of Kennedy's withdrawal first, now says Gov. David Paterson rejected Kennedy, and she knew it:

Sources said the reason Paterson had decided not to tap the daughter of John F. Kennedy was her poor performances in media interviews and in in private sessions with various officials.

Which is a perfectly good reason, given that Kennedy has no real qualifications for the job other than her last name, so she better ace the interviews right?

If the Post and Times reports are correct, it was a cheap PR move for Kennedy to bring her sick uncle into this drama to save face. But only a small number of people know the certain truth. And, even if Caroline Kennedy did fib, Teddy would/will actually be kinda proud. So, who knows, maybe Caroline Kennedy will seek some lesser public office down the road, and actually obtain it. Assuming her embarrassingly bumbling campaign leaves her image like, um, you know, relatively unscathed.