By Lindsay Beyerstein, TMC MediaWire blogger

Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) have set a timetable for healthcare reform by this fall--a major step on the road to passing legislation this year. The Senators' plan, set out in a letter to President Obama, calls for a bill by June, committee markups over the summer, and a final vote in the fall. (Just in time for delayed-action budget reconciliation, should the Republicans prove recalcitrant.)  

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According to Friday's New York Times, it looks like the Progressive blogging community and some smaller media outlets barely got it right on NY Governor David Paterson's announcement of the appointment of Representative Kirsten Gillibrand (NY-20) to fill Hillary Clinton's Senate Seat.

The story, "Paterson Picks Gillibrand for Senate," by Danny Hakim and Nicholas Confessore, provides a rather detailed and somewhat fascinating, behind-the-scenes read on the events leading up to the anticipated press conference being held today at noon in Albany.

If we're to believe Messrs. Confessore and Hakim's reportage, apparently, Governor Paterson did not make up his mind until just three hours ago!

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From the AP:

Caroline Kennedy says she is dropping out of a bid to win appointment to the U.S. Senate seat once held by her slain uncle, Bobby Kennedy.

In a statement released early Thursday, she says she told Gov. David Paterson that she is abandoning her attempt to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton for personal reasons.

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Nicholas Confessore and Danny Hakim broke the story tonight.

Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn from consideration for the vacant Senate seat in New York, according to a person told of her decision.

On Wednesday she called the governor, David Paterson, who is making the selection of who should succeed Senator Hillary Clinton. Her concerns about Senator Edward M. Kennedy's deteriorating health (he was hospitalized after a seizure during the inaugural lunch on Tuesday ) prompted her decision to withdraw, this person said. Coping with the health issues of her uncle, with whom she enjoys an extraordinarily close bond, was her most important priority; a situation not conducive to starting a high profile public job.

She was planning to issue a statement on Wednesday evening.

It's not yet clear if this is one of the situations in which a potential appointee withdraws his or her name in advance of forthcoming news that he or she was not in the end the pick or a genuine decision by Caroline Kennedy to take her name out of the running; in this case, I'm inclined to think it's the latter. Either way, this is certainly a major development, and comes at least as somewhat of a surprise despite recent polling indicating that Kennedy's numbers had significantly slipped among New York voters.

More as we hear it...

Update [2009-1-21 22:10:3 by Jonathan Singer]:Or not?

However, a Kennedy family source told NBC News' David Gregory that Caroline Kennedy had not withdrawn. Two sources hinted to NBC News that there may have been a miscommunication between Kennedy and Paterson's office.

Interesting...

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From the NY Post:

Caroline Kennedy has told Gov. David Paterson that she is withdrawing her name from consideration to replace outgoing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the U.S. Senate, The Post has learned.

Kennedy cited "personal reasons," according to sources.

Her stunning move comes as sources revealed that Paterson had intended to appoint her to the now-vacant seat today.

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