Even as New York Governor David Paterson appears to be in no hurry to make his pick to replace Senator Hillary Clinton, the voters are almost equally divided on the question whether or not Caroline Kennedy fits the bill.

A Quinnipiac Poll released Tuesday shows that 41 percent of the people surveyed said that Kennedy is qualified to be a US Senator, 40 percent felt she is not. Almost 48 percent people expect the governor to name her anyway. Nearly 834 registered voters were surveyed December 17-21; the poll's margin of error being 3.4 percentage points.

Kennedy, in fact, seems to have more support than other two likely choices - Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and Kirsten Gillibrand, a congresswoman from the Albany area. Kennedy was supported by 33 percent people, Cuomo by 29 percent, and Gillibrand by 4 percent.

However, Kennedy is a less likely choice for upstate voters with 27 percent support, as against Cuomo's 31 percent. So far as New York City voters are concerned, Kennedy leads Cuomo 42 percent to 27 percent, and in case of suburban voters, both are tied at 30 percent.

With the Kennedy question hovering in the minds of voters, Quinnipiac Polling Institute Director, Maurice Carroll, said: "Will we get another Kennedy in the Senate? Only Gov. David Paterson knows for sure. Among New Yorkers in general, Caroline Kennedy's grade is just OK."