Chelsea Clinton-for-Congress talk quashed

On the campaign trail with Felicia Sonmez

Is the Chelsea-for-Congress boomlet already over? That was quick.

Rumors of Clinton running for Congress in New York, perhaps for the seat held by Rep. Nita Lowey (D), were shot down Thursday by Lowey and state Democrats.

Actor Bradley Whitford with Chelsea Clinton and director Michael Kahn chat during the dinner at the Oct. 17 Shakespeare Theatre Company Harmon Center for the Arts 25th Anniversary Gala. (Rebecca D'Angelo - TWP)

If there’s anything we should know by know about New York, it is that dynastic politics can be a tricky business. The entitlement factor doesn’t go over well in the Empire State.

Sure, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former first lady and Chelsea’s mom, and Robert F. Kennedy managed to carpetbag their way to Senate seats from New York. But since then, those who have counted on famous last names have not fared so well.

The current governor, Andrew Cuomo, had his head handed to him the first time he tried for that office. After his humbling in 2002, Cuomo went back and paid his dues as attorney general. And then there was the Caroline Kennedy debacle.

What’s more, where 11-term Lowey is concerned, there is the additional history. Having set aside her own ambition once for a Clinton, would she be willing to do it again? Today’s pushback suggests the answer is no.